LHASA, June 12 (Xinhua) -- China has invested over 110 million yuan (about 16.15 million U.S. dollars) in a conservation and utilization project focused on ancient manuscripts, including the palm-leaf manuscripts of the Potala Palace, in southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region, local authorities said on Friday.

The project was launched in 2018. The first two phases have been completed and passed final assessment, while the third phase is underway and expected to be completed by the end of 2026, according to the region's cultural heritage administration.

Through the three phases of this project, 893 folios of palm-leaf scriptures and 10,401 folios of Tibetan paper artifacts have been restored, while the cataloging of 15,000 folios of palm-leaf scriptures has been completed. In addition, more than 36,000 folios of ancient documents have been digitized and processed via text recognition.

Major breakthroughs were achieved in restoration, preventive conservation, digital archiving, technical standard development, and the training of local conservation talents.

The Potala Palace, a UNESCO World Heritage site, houses nearly 40,000 collections of ancient books and documents in multiple languages. Among the most significant collections are scriptures written on around 30,000 palm leaves. ■