In this Nov 1, 2019 photo, performers attend a memorial ceremony for Mazu, Chinese sea goddess, during the 21st Meizhou Mazu Cultural Tourism Festival in Meizhou Island of Putian City, southeast China's Fujian province. (SONG WEIWEI / XINHUA)

BEIJING – China's top economic planner has allocated 5.7 billion yuan (about US$814 million) to support project construction in the cultural tourism industry that has taken a hard hit by the novel coronavirus outbreak.

The investment will be used on 485 projects including protection facilities of national cultural and natural heritage and tourism infrastructure, according to the National Development and Reform Commission.

The latest batch of funds brought total investment from the central budget to the sector to 27.8 billion yuan for the 13th Five-year Plan period (2016-2020).

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While the epidemic has brought a "shock period" to the cultural tourism industry, active investment will help push the construction of major tourism projects, boost industry confidence and enable the sector to play its role in spurring economic recovery, the commission noted.