A £300,000 (US$490,000, €378,000) pot is being made available by the UK government to fund museum exchanges between China and Great Britain. The move is aimed at developing the cultural relationship between the two nations.

The money is part of a bigger package of almost £2m (US$3.3m, €2.5m) to be allocated to the translation of the entire works of William Shakespeare into Mandarin Chinese and a small number of seminal Chinese plays into English. That fund will also pay for the Royal Shakespeare Company – which is charged with the translation project – to tour China in 2016.

The museum exchanges will be overseen by the British Museum’s World Collections Programme.

This runs in tandem with £2.4bn (US$3.9bn, €3bn)-worth of commercial deals between UK and Chinese companies, as well as new rules easing visa restrictions on Chinese tourists to the British Isles.

British culture secretary Sajid Javid reminded the public that “stronger links with China [are] a top priority for the government” and “sharing the very best of our respective cultures” can help build the relationship between the two countries. “This funding means western and eastern cultures can learn from and be enriched by one another,” Javid added.