BEIJING－China made public 36 candidates for the annual selection of the top 10 archaeological discoveries and launched the first round of voting on Friday.

The candidates were proposed by units that are qualified for archaeological excavation and a total of 20 nominated candidates will enter the final selection, according to the official website of the National Cultural Heritage Administration.

The list, covering a wide range of historical remains scattered across the country, includes a sunken ship of the Song Dynasty (960-1279) discovered in the sea off the coast of Yangjiang city in South China's Guangdong province, subordinate tombs of the imperial mausoleum of Emperor Qinshihuang of the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC) and historic remains from the Neolithic Age in Northeast China's Heilongjiang province.

The shipwreck from the Song Dynasty, called Nanhai No 1 (Nanhai refers to the South China Sea), was salvaged in the South China Sea in 2007, and 143,000 relics from the sunken cargo ship were excavated by archaeologists in March. The diverse treasures found within the vessel include porcelain products, gold, silver, copper and iron relics and copper coins.

The subordinate tombs in Northwest China's Shaanxi province, found by archaeologists of Emperor Qinshihuang's Mausoleum Site Museum, are located to the west of the imperial mausoleum of Qinshihuang.

The selection is organized by a professional archaeological newspaper and the Society for Chinese Archaeology, to choose discoveries that are "of historic, artistic and scientific significance while providing fresh knowledge and understanding" to archaeological studies.