The world's oldest national public museum -- the British Museum will display part of its collection in China for the first time this month.

Exhibits covering a vast range of time from 2 million years ago to the present can be viewed at Capital Museum of Beijing from March 18, according to Friday's China Daily.

A total of 272 priceless articles, collected from the world's five continents by the museum since it was founded in 1753, will be on show at a 1,400 square-meter exhibition hall in the newly-built museum until June 5, said Director of the museum Guo Xiaoling.

"Each of the 272 items is a masterpiece from the British Museum's vast collections and together they demonstrate the long history of human civilization worldwide," said Guo.

Including sculptures, paintings, jewellery, porcelain, and stone artifacts, the treasures on show are divided into 13 parts based on their origins and dates, such as ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome, Europe in the Middle Ages, and modern art.

Source: Xinhua