Foreign leaders with travel plans to scale the Great Wall might be excited about the Mutianyu sections plan to open up an additional 500 m this year.

"The main renovation and construction of the 502 m section is mostly complete now, but the monitoring system still needs to be installed," general manager of Mutianyu Great Wall Travel Service Corporate, Yang Huaisheng said. "Based on the current progress, we are hopeful the section can open this year," he said. "But the timetable will change," he added, without saying why.

Located in Huairou district 70 km northeast of Beijing, the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall is reportedly one of the best-preserved parts. First built in the 6th century and rebuilt in Ming dynasty (1368-1644), it has received several foreign leaders including former US President Bill Clinton and former British Prime Minister John Major.

The chief engineer said that he hopes to add another 2.4 km to the current 3 km in total. Then, it is more beautiful than the section already open to the public.

After the suggested project is completed, total length of Mutianyu will reach 5.4 km, it will be the longest of all publicly open sections of the Great Wall.