The Palace Museum in Beijing and the Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences signed an agreement on Friday to boost studies of cultural relics related to traditional Chinese medicine.

The Palace Museum was China's former imperial palace from 1420 to 1911. And according to its inventory, the institution houses more than 3,000 relevant artifacts, including medicine samples, medical documents, and prescriptions from the imperial years.

Wang Xudong, the director of the Palace Museum, said these cultural relics offer important clues to those studying Sino-Western cultural exchanges and the usage of Western medicines in China.

Meanwhile, the study of herbal medicines has featured increasingly in Chinese archaeological research in recent years, thanks to samples collected by the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences. And The cooperation between the two institutions is aimed at using hi-tech approaches to understand the significance of the medical relics in the palace.