China to boost development of museums

People visit a finance-themed museum in southwest China's Chongqing, May 18, 2021. (Xinhua/Wang Quanchao)

BEIJING, May 24 (Xinhua) -- China will pool efforts to promote the high-quality development of museums with the aim to build itself into a country with top-level museums by 2035, noted a guideline issued on Monday.

According to the guideline prepared by nine departments including the National Cultural Heritage Administration, China plans to upgrade 10 to 15 museums into world-class ones featuring Chinese characteristics.

The country will help foster the growth of medium- and small-sized museums and strengthen their innovation mechanism, the guideline said.

It added that China will also expand museum collections and encourage the public to donate collectibles.

By the end of 2020, China was home to 5,788 museums that had been registered with authorities, with 1,224 museums at the state level. An average of one new museum was opened every two days across China between 2016 and 2020.