President Xi Jinping kicked off an inspection tour in Gansu province in Northwest China on Monday.

Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, arrived at the Mogao Caves, a renowned UNESCO World Heritage site in Dunhuang county, in the afternoon.

He was inspecting the research and protection of cultural heritage, as well as how history and culture is promoted.

Xi attaches great importance to the protection of cultural heritage. In a written instruction to a national meeting on the topic in April 2016, Xi called cultural relics "a valuable legacy from our ancestors," stressing that conservation will benefit future generations.

He urged the government to strike a balance between the conservation of cultural relics and economic development.