A ceremonial canopy.[Photo by Jiang Dong/China Daily]

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Russia. In March, an exhibition put together by the Palace Museum opened at the Kremlin to display court rituals under the reign of Emperor Qianlong (1736-95), the peak of social prosperity during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

"It was almost contemporaneous of what is being shown at the Russian counterpart of our museum," Lou says. "We would like to create cultural resonance by sharing similar topics."

He adds that future cultural cooperation will be expanded to fields beyond exhibitions.

The Palace Museum was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1987, while the Moscow Kremlin followed suit three years later in 1990.Lou says exchanges of experience managing world heritage sites and training of expertise in cultural relic conservation could be a new focus.