BEIJING, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- A collaborative exhibition featuring cultural heritage collections from museums of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member states kicked off in Beijing on Wednesday.

Hosted by China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the exhibition will run till Nov. 16 at the National Museum of China (NMC).

Themed on respecting diverse civilizations and pursuing common development, the exhibition presents a total of 220 units of precious cultural relics from 10 museums of SCO countries.

Among them are symbolic cultural relics during the stages of origin, development and evolution of ancient civilizations as well as representative cultural relics highlighting the exchanges and interactions among different countries in history.

According to NMC researcher Wang Zhiqiang, these relics not only reflect the rich cultures of SCO countries, but also demonstrate the historical process of cultural dialogue, mutual learning and mutual influence among SCO countries through the ancient Silk Road.