China to receive British art treasures


Art treasures including works from Shakespeare to David Hockney are to travel to China as part of a drive to showcase British culture.

Chancellor George Osborne, who is in China for talks aimed at boosting cultural ties, has pledged £7m in funding for the program.

A further £750,000 will help take the British Museum's 'History of the World in 100 Objects' exhibition to China.

The exhibition, featuring art through the ages, is currently on a world tour.

Leaders of some of the UK's biggest cultural institutions, including representatives from the British Library, the Southbank Centre and Shakespeare's Globe, have joined the chancellor in China.

Reports say the £7m funding will go into projects including the under listed. 

1. £1.6m for the British Library to display literary treasures in China, including works by Shakespeare and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

2. £740,000 for Shakespeare's Globe to tour The Merchant of Venice, including an education program.

3. £500,000 for a Royal Opera House training program for Chinese students.

4. £500,000 over three years for a new Love 

China Festival at London's South Bank.
Mr Osborne defended the cost at a time when arts centers in the UK were suffering cuts, saying the government spent three quarters of a billion pounds on culture in the UK through the Arts Council last year.


BBC News