50% of relics corroded

More than 50 percent of the relics stored in museums across China are suffering from various degrees of corrosion, Li Xiaojie, director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, said on Monday.

Li confirmed the result of an investigation conducted between 2002 and 2005 and said that the number of relics suffering severe corrosion has reached 2.3 million, 16.5 percent of the total number of relics.

China has increased financial support for storage and renovation of historical relics, spending 817 million yuan ($133.95 million) between 2011 and 2013.