A total of 165 porcelain relics, lying at the bottom of sea for 260 years, are scheduled to be shown at the Palace Museum in Beijing next Monday.

The relics were stored at a Chinese merchant ship which wrecked near a Swedish seaport 260 years ago, Beijing Daily reports Friday.

After the exhibition, the newspaper said, 18 items will be kept at the Palace Museum for permanent storage.

Apart from the porcelain wares taken from the sea, visitors to the exhibition will also have a chance to see a porcelain plate, which was made during the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127).

Experts estimate the auction price of the ancient plate to be at 5 million yuan (US$617,000), the newspaper said.

(Xinhua News Agency September 23, 2005)