(Yicai) Jan. 5 -- The Palace Museum in Beijing’s Forbidden City will host a joint exhibition with the Palace of Versailles this year as part of the cultural events planned for the China-France Year of Culture and Tourism.

‘Sino-French Exchanges in the 17th and 18th Centuries’ will be held from April to June at the Palace Museum's Wenhua Hall, Wang Xudong, the museum’s director, said yesterday.

The exhibition will display more than 180 fine cultural relics from the collections of Chinese and French museums, including scientific instruments, clocks and watches, enamel, porcelain, paintings, and books, Wang said.

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France in 1964.

From March, France will carry out online promotional activities at home and in China to help visitors from both countries to better appreciate each other’s attractions, said Nicolas Pillerel, minister counselor for culture, education, and scientific affairs at the French Embassy in China.

China will host a tourism promotion conference at the Palais Brongniart in Paris on Jan. 30, said Zheng Hao, an official with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. It will also publish three high-quality travel itineraries -- the ‘Silk Road,’ ‘Southwest Ethnic Customs,’ and ‘Cultural Tour Along the Yellow River’ -- and introduce the country's facilitation measures for inbound tourists, Zheng added.

Other events for the China-France Year of Culture and Tourism include a lantern festival organized by Shanghai’s Yu Garden in Paris’s Jardin d’Acclimatation, Zheng said. The festival, which began last month and runs into February, features lantern designs with dragons and mythical creatures taken from ‘The Classic of Mountains and Seas,’ a key work on ancient Chinese mythology.

The French cities of Montauban and Anneville have also collaborated with China's Zigong Lantern Group to hold local lantern festivals, Zheng added.

Editor: Martin Kadiev