ART treasures, including works from Shakespeare to David Hockney, are to travel to China as part of a drive to showcase British culture, according to the BBC.

    U.K. Chancellor George Osborne, who was in China for talks aimed at boosting cultural ties earlier this month, has pledged 7 million British pounds (US$10.61 million) in funding for the program.

    A further 750,000 British pounds 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 biggest cultural institutions in Britain, including representatives from the British Library, the Southbank Center and Shakespeare’s Globe, have joined the chancellor in China.

    “I think the British people are fascinated by China; they have a combination of curiosity about this great force in the world and frankly a bit of anxiety,” said Osborne in an interview with the BBC.

    “And one of the best ways people’s cultures express themselves is through their theater and their paintings and their art ... and what better way to explain to many, many Chinese people about Britain than letting them hear a Shakespeare play in Mandarin or see a David Hockney picture ... there in China?”

    The 7m-funding will go toward projects such as: 1.6 million pounds for the British Library to display literary treasures in China, including works by Shakespeare and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; 740,000 pounds for Shakespeare’s “Globe to tour The Merchant of Venice,” including an education program; 500,000 pounds for a Royal Opera House training program for Chinese students; and 500,000 pounds over three years for a new Love China Festival at London’s South Bank.(SD-Agencies)