CHINA has opened an average of 200 new museums per year over the past decade, said senior cultural heritage officials Monday.

    At the end of 2014, the country had 4,510 registered museums, an increase of 345 from 2013, said Li Xiaojie, head of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage in Shijiazhuang, capital of North China’s Hebei Province, when marking International Museum Day. Before the opening-up and reform in the late 1970s, the country had less than 350 museums.

    Around one-fifth of China’s museums are private, but the majority are State-owned. China’s museums are growing faster than ever, said Song Xinchao, deputy head of the administration and director-general of the China Museums Association.

    China still needs to increase its number of museums and improve their quality and range of exhibits, said Song.

    On Monday, China unveiled the top 10 museum exhibitions of 2014, including the colorful terracotta warriors display marking the 40th anniversary of the start of excavation on the Mausoleum of Qinshihuang, founder of the Qin Dynasty (221-206 B.C.).

    Located in Xi’an in Northwest China’s Shaanxi Province, the 56-square-km mausoleum is the world’s largest. An army of more than 7,000 life-sized terra-cotta warriors and horses was discovered at the site in 1974.

    (Xinhua)