A museum in China has been ordered to close after it was discovered that nearly a third of its exhibits were counterfeit.

The Xi Feng Xian Lu Cheng Museum, located in China’s Liaoning Province, was closed down by police, who said that almost a third of the museum’s 8,000 exhibits were replicas.

One exhibit – a large ornamental sword – was put through the books at a value of US$19m (€14m, £11.3m) and is the ‘most valuable’ fake in the collection, with the reality being the sword was actually a replica.

This isn’t the first time China has had such problems. In 2013, the Jubaozhai Museum in Henan province was shut down after bright green cartoon characters, looking very similar to a cartoon laughing squid from a Chinese children’s TV show, was catalogued as dating back to the Qing dynasty. Upon further inspection it was discovered that almost all of the museum’s 40,000 exhibits were fake.

According to official government figures from China, 299 museums opened their doors in 2013, with the country’s government devoting considerable resources to the promotion of Chinese culture, both domestically and abroad, though forgery in the country is a serious problem.

In 2012, a study by the China-based Artron data company estimated that as many as 250,000 people in 20 Chinese cities may be involved on a day-to-day basis in the production and sale of fake art, with estimates from some saying that 80 per cent of works that go through Chinese auction houses are replicas sold as the real deal.

“Similar fake museums are found in many places in China in search of monetary gain,” said antiques expert Ma Weidu speaking to China Radio International. “If I were to estimate how many it would probably be at least 20.”