China is the world's fourth oldest civilisation, but is pre-dated by Mesopotamia (4,000BC), Egypt (3,100BC), and the Indus Valley civilisations (3,300 BC) and is generally thought to have started around 2,000 BC
A Chinese researcher has been ridiculed after claiming his country "created" the Egyptian civilisation though all evidence points to Egypt being a unified culture around 1000 years earlier.
Though the ancient Chinese rank high among the world's oldest civilisations (2000 BC), the development of a united China came almost 1100 years after the ancient Egyptians (3100 BC).
Mesopotamia (4000 BC), Egypt (3100 BC) and the Indus Valley civilisations (3300 BC) all significantly pre-date ancient China.
The absurd statement made in an online article by Yu Ruijun, a senior researcher at the Culture and Tourism Bureau of Zhangjiakou city in Hebei province, has prompted a formal investigation and triggered widespread mockery online.
Yu claimed there was “a great deal of evidence to show that it was the Chinese who created Egyptian civilisation”.
After the article was publiished on the board's official WeChat account, it sparked immediate controversy before being deleted later the same day.
Yu's "evidence" was the archaeological find of a vessel with carvings that he said were similar to those that have previously been found in ancient Egypt.
But Yu then went on to add additional points to support his claim.
He said the Egyptians and Chinese were racially comparable, used similar cultural relics, medical technology, measurement units and folk customs.
The researcher has featured in official state media reports as a veteran ancient rock and carving collector.
Despite the shared similarities, which are generally agreed upon, all existing studies conclude that the ancient Egyptians were around long before the Chinese.
The South China Morning Post requested an interview with the bureau, which was refused, but they confirmed a probe into the ridiculous claim was underway.
Zheng Jinsong, deputy head of the Museum of Southwest University in Chongqing, told Shangyou News: “When it comes to researching the origins of civilisations, either being over-weening or belittling ourselves would be unacceptable."
Earlier this year, a team of scientists discovered an ancient forest has been discovered more than 600 feet underground in a sinkhole in China.
The forest of trees and plants was discovered by explorers on May 6 in Leye County in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and could contain species not yet discovered.
Three entrances were found inside the cave which measures 1,004 feet long and 492 feet wide.
A team of scientists rappelled into the sinkhole on its discovery where they found ancient trees 131 feet tall stretching their branches towards the sun at the sinkhole entrance.
Southern China is home to karst topography, a landscape characterised by caves, sinkholes and underground streams.
