Chinese objects span a number of collections at Brighton & Hove Museums Service. There are Chinese prints in the Fine Art Collection, Chinese ceramics in the Decorative Art Collection and a large number of Chinese items made specifically for the export market amongst the fabulous Chinoiserie of the Royal Pavilion.

The World Art Collection, which was largely formed by donations from British people who have travelled overseas, includes more than 500 items from China. These Chinese holdings range from high-quality prestigious items, such as courtly textiles, to everyday objects like chopsticks and money. Many of the items were collected by British people visiting China in the late nineteenth century. Important donors to the collection include John Henry Gray (1823-1890), Archdeacon of Hong Kong (1867-1878) and author of a number of books on China, and the Reverend Ernest Box, who worked at Medhurst College, Shanghai and who donated an important collection of Chinese deity figures to the Museum in 1923. More recently, the World Art Collection has received a group of courtly Chinese textiles from Captain and Mrs Williamson and a field collection of contemporary textiles worn by ethnic minority groups in South West China.