A Tibetan antelope at the Kekexili Nature Reserve. [Photo/Xinhua]

With the Shennongjia in Hubei province and Zuojiang Huashan Rock Art Cultural Landscape in Guangxi province added to the world heritage list recently, China now boasts 50 world heritage sites, ranking second in the world.

According to the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the Kekexili in Qinghai province will apply for the world heritage next year and preparatory work is now underway.

Zhang Linwei, deputy head of urban construction under the ministry revealed that it's certain that the Kekexili project will reach the next stage of application. He said, "The experts from International Union for Conservation of Nature are examining the project and will submit to the UNESCO World Heritage Center later."

Except for the Kekexili project, there are several other projects with applications for world heritage underway.

In November of 2014, China started preparations to apply for Kekexili to join the world heritage list. The Kekexili in Qinghai province, also known as Hoh Xil, is a 45,000 square kilometer reserve that encompasses China's largest area of uninhabited land. It is home to several endangered species, including the Tibetan antelope.