The senior Beijing culture officials were welcomed by museum director Barbara Ravnik, who acquainted them with the museum's most important attractions, including the world's oldest flute.

Ravnik, who visited China a few years ago as a representative of a national museum for SE Europe, said the museum was looking forward to strengthening cultural links with such an important country.

She highlighted exhibition exchanges as a key segment in this respect, which is why the museum's leaflet for this year was translated into 16 languages, including Chinese.

Wang Ning meanwhile noted that by preserving the heritage of each nation, we are preserving the heritage of humanity as a whole, the National Museum said.

He invited Ravnik to visit Beijing again. During her last visit she proposed cooperation at the Silk Road international strategic forum.