A series of eight exhibitions and more than 50 artists is to bring Scotland's contemporary art scene to China.

The shows, called Current, will show new and existing work by artists from or based in Scotland at the Shanghai Himalayas Museum in China.

The exhibition has been arranged by the Cooper Gallery at Dundee University and its curator Sophia Hao and Wang Nanming, a curator and critic in Shanghai.

The shows will include work by Bruce McLean, Poster Club, Edgar Schmitz, Ross Sinclair, Lucy Skaer and Corin Sworn, among others.

It will also show works from the archives of the Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design and a moving image screening programme featuring emerging artists in Scotland.

Current opens on 27 June to coincide with the British Council's UK Season in China and ends in December 2016, where it will overlap with the 11th Shanghai Biennale.

As well as eight shows with 50 artists, there will be artist and writers residences and a series of forums with 12 speakers from Scotland and around the world.

The first show, Poster Club, features work by Ciara Philips, the Glasgow-based artist who was in the running for last year's Turner Prize, Michael Stumpf, Nicolas Party, Anne-Marie Copestake, Charlie Hammond and Tom O'Sullivan

The Shanghai Biennale has run since 1994.

Ms Hao said: "Borne out of 3 years of close conversations and collaborative work between Cooper Gallery and Shanghai Himalayas, We've put together a radical curatorial programme which will champion the great strengths of Scotland's visual artists and art to audiences in China by situating its distinctiveness and complexity within a global discourse on the 'contemporary'.

"Through showing contemporary artworks from Scotland in China, the programme brings two radically different experiences of 'the contemporary' into proximity."

Formerly the Zendai Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai Himalayas opened in 2005.

In 2013 it opened four new galleries with 1,950 square metres of exhibition space and receives 500,000 visitors a year.

Janet Archer, chief executive of Creative Scotland, said: "This is a major showcase opportunity for some of the very best contemporary art from Scotland to find new audiences in China.

"We are extremely proud of Scotland's reputation as an international centre for the visual arts and expect this project will do much to strengthen this.

"Through a dynamic programme of events and exhibitions we look forward to making new connections and establishing future opportunities for creative exchange."

Lloyd Anderson, director of British Council Scotland said: "The coincidence of timing with our UK Season in China and the Shanghai Biennale makes this an incredible opportunity to present a comprehensive showcase of work by Scotland's wealth of terrific contemporary artists and extend the reach and impact of their work and Scotland's cultural profile.

"With exciting cultural and economic prospects in China and the success of the Generation programme in Scotland which impressed the international curators the British Council invited over to see it, the timing is right to realise this thought-provoking and rich programme of contemporary art from Scotland in collaboration with a leading art museum in China."