Archeologists affiliated with the national museum say it marks  a milestone in China's underwater archeology. (Xinhua photo)

Prof. Zhang Wei, Underwater Archaeology Research Center, said, "The discovery provided us a lot of valuable experience in underwater archaeology. It's something of a blessing for us, as a young team then, to find this cultural relic, recognized as one of the oldest and biggest merchant boat sunk in South China Sea."

The merchant ship was loaded with porcelain when it sank 800 years ago.

Archaeologists have recovered more than four thousand containers made of gold, silver and porcelain, as well as about six thousand copper coins of the Song Dynasty, when the Nanhai was built.

The Song Dynasty was the first peak of the China's porcelain industry. Products were exported to east, south and west Asia, as well as the east coast of Africa, and the use of porcelain was seen as a status symbol.

The 30-meter-long vessel was lifted from two-meter-thick silt in December. Experts say the Nanhai One might confirm the existence of an ancient maritime trade route linking China and the West.

Editor:Yang Jie