BEIJING - The National Museum of China received a total of 8.61 million visitors during its 279 open days in 2018, a record high in the museum's history according to statistics released by the museum.

With a daily average of 30,860 visitors, the total number of visitors in 2018 grew by 6.8 percent compared with the previous year.

Since 2015, the annual total of visitors rose steadily, from 7.29 million in 2015 to 8.61 million in 2018.

Among the exhibitions hosted by the museum, the commemorative exhibition of the 40th anniversary of China's reform and opening up was most favored by the public, attracting around 2.3 million visitors in less than two months from Nov. 13 to Dec. 30.

Starting in 2018, the museum stopped distributing paper tickets and enabled visitors to enter the museum with valid identification. The museum has also improved its security check efficiency to ensure greater convenience for guests.