BEIJING, Dec. 2 (Xinhua) -- The Ministry of Finance (MOF) has said it allocated 6.05 billion yuan (877 million U.S. dollars) in 2018 for use in the protection of cultural relics and heritage sites.

The money was spent on more than 2,200 protection projects covering national key cultural relics, historic sites, world cultural heritage, archaeological excavation and movable cultural relics, the MOF said in a statement.

The funds were also used to support more than 800 national intangible cultural heritage projects and 21 national cultural and ecological protection zones.

An official with the MOF said the ministry would improve its management mechanism and help advance the transformation and development of Chinese traditional culture in an innovative way.