Each culture has the ability to see the world in a very specific way

"Nobody has ever enough to present the history of China. That is impossible. It is too vast, too varied. It's too layered. So what we can do in such a place is to offer routes of access and confront you with the most stunning achievements," Fischer says.

The China gallery, together with a separate gallery of Chinese ceramics, offers visitors many ways of engaging with China's history and cultures, he says.

Fischer says the efforts to incorporate modern artworks into the display is to demonstrate "a huge and rich phenomena" in which present-day China relates to its past.

"Looking at the way present China relates to its past, you understand that culture is actually at the heart of resilience, the possibility to survive and to develop and to thrive."

Fischer describes the museum world in China as "extremely dynamic", as "it is looking not only on the great past but also the great future". The British Museum is working closely with Chinese counterparts on joint projects and on the long-term basis in both Britain and China for study and exhibitions, says Fischer.

"The key is people meeting and people working together. There is always space to do more, to explore our collections, to explore history, to explore through the exhibition, through research projects," he says.

The British Museum is "very keen" to share its exhibitions and collections with Chinese audiences, who are the biggest single foreign group of visitors to the museum, says the director.