NANJING - A database cataloging ancient buildings in towns south of the Yangtze River will be launched to help them be acknowledged as World Heritage sites.

According to Chen Jianzhong, a leading official with the protection and management committee of Tongli Town in eastern Jiangsu Province, efforts to collect data such as maps, census information and renovations on buildings have already begun.

Chen said planners will compile an archive on the estates, featuring details on any changes to ancient buildings in the town center area, over the next three years.

"It will be China's first database on occupied cultural relics, and will help our application for inscription as a UNESCO World Heritage site," said Zhou Jian, professor with the College of Architecture and Urban Planning of Tongji University in Shanghai.

In total 13 ancient towns in Jiangsu and neighboring Zhejiang Province begun the process to apply for World Cultural Heritage status in 2015. According to the plan, the preparatory work will be completed by the end of 2016.