In the new edition of a high school textbook on China released in September, Liangzhu is presented in detail as an important origin of Chinese civilization.

In 2015, the discovery in Liangzhu of the ruins of a dam - for flood control and irrigation - was announced. It is the earliest known Chinese water conservancy project and was listed among China's top 10 archaeological discoveries of that year. Its contemporary counterparts overseas were built mainly in arid areas like ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, making this discovery in the humid area near the Yangtze River unusual.

In recent years, archaeologists have determined there was no farmland in the ancient city, which housed mainly handicraft workshops.

"That clearly shows a division between urban and rural areas, which is extraordinary for that time," Wang said.

Renowned British archaeologist Colin Renfrew, a fellow of the British Academy, visited the site in 2017 and thought the importance of findings in China's Neolithic Period was greatly underestimated. He noted that cong represent a unity of values in the region and that the complexity of the society in Liangzhu was on a par with a country.

The State Administration of Cultural Heritage had put Liangzhu on a potential World Heritage site list several times before it officially applied for that status.

Jiang Weidong, deputy director of the Liangzhu relic site's administration office, said much work has been done in preparation for its submission as a World Heritage candidate.

Currently, its protection zone covers 42 square kilometers, and this is planned to expand to 111 square kilometers.

Shi Xiaofeng in Hangzhou contributed to this story.

The understanding of the Neolithic ruins at the Liangzhu relic site on the outskirts of Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, has grown since it was first excavated in the 1930s. It is now known to include tombs and a dam for flood control and irrigation, as well a workshops for handicrafts. Han Chuanhao / Xinhua