The three-day auction will sell over 76,000 objects retrieved from a sunken ship. The antiques are mostly Chinese products made during the Qing dynasty (1723-1735).

Porcelain dishes, pots and statues which are unique in design, were made at the famous kilns in Jiangxi and Guangdong of China.

The auctioned items are part of over 99,100 antiques lifted from the wreckage by the province in association with the Vietnam History Museum.

An additional 32,500 relics from the wrecked ship were illegally taken by locals from nearby Binh Thuan province, costing the provincial administration over US$921,000 to retrieve them.

Local authorities said all the money raised from the auction will be used to build community projects.