The National Museum of China on September 6 launched an online initiative to display cultural treasures for global audiences.

It's named "Treasure Hunt Relay: Global Museum Director's Choice," the online campaign in collaboration with other 15 museums across five continents of the world, including Argentina, South Africa and Russia.  

Wang Chunfa, director of the National Museum of China, opened the first online presentation on Sunday. He shared his five favorite objects in the collection of the National Museum of China. In the coming days, directors from other museums will take over the relay to share stories of their cultural jewels. He spoke exclusively to China Media Group.

"Since May, we have implemented a series of measures to ensure the safety of our visitors. We had a total of 7.39 million visitors in 2019," he said during the interview.

"But now, even if we increase the visitor flow to 8,000 people per day, we still cannot fully serve all of our patrons. So in light of this situation, we've launched this online exhibition and we are working in collaboration with museums overseas. This Global Museum Treasure Hunt Relay is our latest project," Wang added.

Museums are palaces for sheltering and passing on human civilization, connecting the past, present and future. However, nearly 90 percent museums worldwide are forced to close, 13 percent of all will be permanently closed this year due to the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic. 

A time when museums worldwide are jointly overcoming difficulties, the online campaign debuts in an effort to spread the idea of building a community with a shared future for mankind.