China is home to 3,589 museums, including 3,054 State-owned and 535 private museums. The number is increasing at a speed of around 100 per year, according to information released at a conference on cultural relics on Tuesday.

At the conference, Minister of Culture Cai Wu said that China will further promote free museum admissions, as well as improve the quality of displays and public services.

Cai said cultural relics have gradually become a new focus of attention. Such relics can raise a city's appeal and greatly boost the development of the tourism industry.

In 2011, the Palace Museum, also known as the Forbidden City, received 14 million visitors, twice the amount of visitors in 2002. During national holidays it welcomed even more visitors, with a record-high 182,000 people visiting the museum on a single day in 2011.

In China, on average, there is a museum for every 400,000 people. By 2020, the number will drop to 250,000. Compared to developed countries, where an average of 10,000 to 100,000 people can share a museum, China still has a long way to go.