Mexico's ports were often targeted by pirates, which could explain why the shipment appears to have been destroyed.

The discovery coincides with an exhibit at Mexico City's Franz Mayer Museum called "Return Voyage: The China Galleon and the Baroque in Mexico," which highlights China's artistic influence on the New World through trade.

While Mexico and China are separated by a great distance, trade ties have linked the two regions for centuries.

The China Galleon regularly sailed between Acapulco, and other Mexican ports, and Manila, in the Philippines, and today's Taiwan, China where it would load up on Chinese spices and silks, and other goods.

Fabricio Antonio Fonseca, a researcher at the prestigious Colegio de Mexico, says the initial encounter between Mexico and China occurred when the galleon first sailed into a Mexican port.

The discovery of new maritime routes linking Asia, the New World and Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries launched an era of unprecedented global trade and cultural exchange.

Evidence even shows that starting in 1565, the return trips to Mexico were manned by Chinese crews, said Fonseca.