The venture was put together by Bury Art Museum manager Tony Trehy, who saw that art collected by industrial barons across the North West of England could be a big draw overseas.He corralled other galleries to put their "greatest hits" together and head east.The exhibition is titled Toward Modernity: Three Centuries of British Art.

Chinese galleries pay to host the exhibition, which Mr Trehy is now hoping to take to other countries, and which could provide the template for further themed exhibitions.The Chinese venture has boosted both the finances and profile of the gallery as well as allowing staff to learn new skills, such as conservation, she says.

The Beijing World Art Museum specialises in collecting, exhibiting and researching foreign arts "In Beijing, for example, general public and press showed very high interest in this show," says Fei Xu, of the Beijing World Art Museum."For other provincial museums, this exhibition is the first foreign exhibition introducing British art, especially the oil paintings from famous artists of the UK."

Chinese galleries have been slowly opening up to foreign exhibitions over the past decade. The Tate took a major Turner show to the National Art Museum of China in Beijing in 2009, while the British Council organised an extensive festival of UK culture to coincide with the 2012 London Olympic Games.

"More and more people in China are interested in British art and culture now," says Fei Xu. "Since the UK hosted the Olympic Games successfully in London last year, Chinese people are interested in its long history, its merging of different ethnic groups and the development process of Britain in the past decades."