Hadrian’s Wall is teaming up with its much larger counterpart, The Great Wall of China, to encourage tourism and increase cultural understanding of the World heritage Sites.

Announced by John Glen, Britain’s minister for Arts, Heritage and Tourism, the agreement will see representatives of both sites examine the challenges and opportunities of managing large and complex archaeological remains, and to explore the potential tourism growth in both countries.

The agreement is the first of its kind and comes from high-level meetings held in Beijing between the British and Chinese governments in February, with the two walls among the key topics discussed.

“The Wall to Wall Collaboration is the perfect example of how heritage can be used to strengthen international partnerships, grow tourism and build a truly global Britain,” said Glen.

Historic England and the Chinese Academy of Cultural Heritage will sign an official agreement tomorrow (7 December), with a seminar to be held in Newcastle next year – the first step in a wider programme of collaboration between the two sites.