Ancient Chinese ceramics kept in Sweden will return to China next year to be displayed in the prestigious Palace Museum in Beijing from August to October, said sources with the museum.

The exhibition is planned as part of the activities to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the establishment of the museum, which was once the imperial palace.

The exhibition, jointly sponsored by the Palace Museum on the Chinese side and Volvo, the Radisson SAS Hotel Beijing and SAS on the Swedish side, will display Chinese ceramics sold to Sweden in the 18th century and Chinese color pottery kept in a Swedish museum that dated back to the Yangshao Culture 6,000 to 7,000 years ago.

The exhibits are testimony to the trade and cultural exchanges and friendly relations of China and Sweden, said an official with the Palace Museum.

(Xinhua News Agency June 29, 2004)