Picasso masterpieces probably will exhibit in China during the Olympic Games as part of its global tour, according to the Picasso Museum Wednesday.

Museum director Anne Baldassari said talks are under way with China for the exhibition to be shown in Beijing during the Olympic Games in August 2008.

About 350 masterpieces from the museum in Paris are going on world tour early next year. The first destination is Madrid and then Japan.

The Picasso Retrospective is also planned to travel to Abu Dhabi and the United States next year, with stops planned in Brazil and Russia in 2009, Baldassari said.

The Picasso Museum, which houses 500 paintings and sculptures by Pablo Picasso along with countless drawings, photographs and prints, will be closed from October 2008 to the end of 2010 to allow for major renovation work.

But some of the works by the Spanish painter will be on display at the Grand Palais museum during the closure.

(Agencies via Xinhua News Agency June 21, 2007)