A joint venture named Dengfeng Songshan Shaolin Culture and Travel Company was established by Dengfeng municipal government of Henan Province and the China Travel International Investment Hong Kong Sunday to promote the famous Shaolin Temple and 16 other tourist sites.

The Hong Kong-based China Travel International Investment Hong Kong is a subsidiary of the State-owned China National Travel Service (HK) Group (HKCTS).

The Hong Kong travel company will hold a 51-percent stake in the venture and the Dengfeng government will have the remaining 49 percent.

The registered capital of the company is 100 million yuan ($14.7 million).

"In the next 10 years, we will greatly promote the tourism of Songshan Mountain scenic spot, improve the infrastructure and upgrade the services," said Bo Baohua, board chairman of the new company, at an inauguration ceremony held in Zhengzhou, capital of Henan.

 "Meanwhile, we will greatly promote Shaolin kung fu and culture," he added.

The new joint venture recently came under the spotlight as earlier reports said the Dengfeng government, where the Shaolin Temple located, was trying to have the religious place publicly listed in the stock market via the joint venture.

The media reported that the Dengfeng government planned to sell the State asset at a low price aroused controversy, but since then the government said that the supposed plan is "totally inaccurate."

According to the government, the scope of cooperation won't include ownership of the Shaolin Temple or 16 cultural relic preservation sites in three popular scenic spots – namely Shaolin, Songyang and Zhongyue. The cooperation would strictly follow the related laws and regulations of China, the government said.

However, the Shaolin Temple and the tourism agency will also spend 10 years jointly building a 140-square-kilometer cultural industrial park in the area. The park will include a martial arts center and a hotel, and will offer various services like Shaolin kung fu training and martial art competitions.

Xu Muhan, vice general manager of the HKCTS, also confirmed the news of the joint venture on Sunday.

"The shares that our company holds are of the Songshan Mountain scenic spot, which does not include the Shaolin Temple," he said.

"Meanwhile, HKCTS itself is a State-owned company, so such an issue does not exist about selling State assets at a low price," he said.

"In addition, we will protect the cultural heritage and religious places in tourism development," he added.

Agencies and Li Na contributed to the story