British Museum relaxed about Chinese relics search

China views the burning and pillaging of the Yuanmingyuan in 1860 by British and French armies as one of its greatest humiliations.

One of Britain's most prestigious museums said Tuesday it had nothing to hide, after China announced it would dispatch experts to record relics abroad it says were looted from Beijing's Old Summer Palace.

Museums, libraries and private collections in the United States, Britain, France and Japan will be targeted by the initiative, according to the director of Beijing's Yuanmingyuan, or Old Summer Palace, quoted in the China Daily.

China views the burning and pillaging of the Yuanmingyuan in 1860 by British and French armies as one of its greatest humiliations.

The British Museum in London, which has a substantial collection of Chinese artefacts, said it did not believe the Chinese initiative was aimed at seeking the return of any items, but simply to catalogue them.

- We understand it is about archiving and documentation. We would be happy to have any discussion with anyone who comes forward - said museum spokeswoman Esme Wilson.

- But we have not been contacted by anyone at this point.

China protested strongly this year when auctioneers Christie's sold two bronze animal heads looted from the Old Summer Palace, which belonged to late French fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent and his partner Pierre Berge.

The Chinese government called for the sale to be cancelled and demanded that the relics be returned to China.