UNESCO has awarded World Heritage status to Hoh Xil – also known as Kekexili – in the Tibet Autonomous Region. 

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's World Heritage Committee, which is meeting in the Polish city of Krakow, has made this announcement on Friday. 

Hoh Xil is part of a high-altitude plateau which also crosses into northwestern Qinghai Province and is home to the endangered Tibetan antelope.

The plateau's addition to the UNESCO list makes it the 51st natural heritage site in China.

China's second application under review this year is for Gulangyu, a pedestrian-only island near the city of Xiamen in eastern Fujian Province.

If UNESCO accepts the second application, China would become the country with the most heritage sites, surpassing Italy which currently has 51.