Two children watch exhibits in Henan Museum. (Photo/Xinhua)

Last year, more than 20,000 exhibitions were held at museums across China, attracting nearly one billion visitors, according to statistics released during a meeting attended by cultural heritage administrators on Jan. 8.

China is home to 5,136 museums, it was revealed at the meeting. In 2018, authorities enacted new guidelines to make better use of and protect cultural relics.

Last year, the National Cultural Heritage Administration and the Ministry of Public Security worked together to crack down on cases related to cultural relics. A total of 1,476 people were arrested, and 6,877 cultural relics were retrieved.

Nearly 80 percent of the crimes related to cultural relics in recent years were committed by legal persons. Liu Yuzhu, head of the administration, said lax enforcement is a prominent problem that endangers cultural relics.

Liu said China has now signed bilateral agreements on cultural heritage with France, the UK and Singapore, among other countries, donated to the International Fund for the Protection of Endangered Cultural Heritage and participated in fund management.

The archaeological cooperation between China and foreign countries has gradually grown, with 40 projects already initiated in 24 countries and regions in Asia, Africa, Europe and South America.