China has 4,700 museums, mostly free to visitors

HOHHOT, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The number of registered museums in China has reached nearly 4,700, with more than 85 percent of them free to visit, a national cultural official announced Wednesday.

By the end of 2015, 4,692 museums had been registered and more than 20,000 exhibitions are held annually, drawing 700 million visitors, Liu Yuzhu, head of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, said at the Inner Mongolia Museum at Hohhot, capital of north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

"As public cultural services, museums are significant in displaying civilization, boosting cultural exchanges and improving morality, science and culture," Liu said.