An institute for Tibetan literature and data was established at the China Tibetology Research Center in Beijing on Monday.

The institute, whose aim is to protect and develop the culture of ethnic Tibetans while providing information and resources for related scientific research, is expected to become China's largest and most authoritative institute for Tibetan information.

To lay a firm foundation for the institute, the research center began collecting ancient books and literature in 2015 written in the Tibetan language from Beijing, the Tibet autonomous region, Qinghai and Gansu provinces and Tibetan areas in Sichuan province.

The center sorted out the contents of some ancient books at the Potala Palace and Norbulingka that were once believed to be lost.

The content includes Buddhist religious literature covering a wide range of fields such as history, literature, medicine and astronomy. Much of the content was not included in Tibetan classics.

An Qiyi, Party chief of the research center, said at the opening ceremony on Monday that the institute would stay in communication and strengthen cooperation with institutes of Tibetan studies nationwide to gather richer sources of Tibetan language literature.

"We will also make efforts to build the institute into a modern one with high standards that can contribute to the protection and development of the culture of the Tibetan ethnic group," he said.