HOHHOT -- Authorities in North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region have made a plan to preserve their stretch of the Great Wall.

The plan includes specific protection measures on how to protect key sections and their environment and how to manage visitors.

It also asks local governments to "basically solve protection difficulties by 2020."

The Great Wall was built between the third century BC and the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). The existing sections mostly date from the Ming era, with the Ming wall measuring over 8,800 kilometers.

In 2006, a regulation on Great Wall protection was released, but the sheer size of the structure posed a challenge. Statistics show that less than 10 percent of the wall is considered well-preserved, while about 30 percent has disappeared.

Inner Mongolia boasts a 7,570-km stretch, or 35 percent, of the Great Wall, spanning 11 historical periods.