A permanent exhibition of Chinese porcelain dated back to the Ming Dynasty in the 16th century has been opened on the Mozambique Island in the northern province of Nampula, the official media AIM reported on Wednesday.

The exhibition, sponsored by the Patrimonio International company, in which the Mozambican government is the major shareholder, falls under a Research and Classification Project of ancient cultural artifacts salvaged from wreckage around the Island of Mozambique.

Some of the items exhibited are unique and of incalculable cultural, historical and financial value, said the report.

Mozambique's Education and Culture Ministry said the Maritime Museum, where the relics are being displayed, also features a number of other rare artifacts of diverse origin, including India, Europe and Africa, that have been recovered from the ship wreckage of the "Nossa Senhora da Consolacao" vessel that sank in 1608 in the waters of Island of Mozambique.

(Xinhua News Agency August 30, 2007)