New Zealand's north coastal city Gisborne is to become the first city in the Southern Hemisphere to host the Beijing Olympic Sculptures Exhibition.

The 110-piece exhibition, regarded as an ambassador for the 2008 Olympics, will be displayed for three weeks from Sept 9 in city gardens beside Gisborne's Taruheru River.

Same exhibition has already attracted 100 million viewers in 13 Chinese cities and in London, Seoul, Los Angeles and Rome.

Gisborne's status as the first city in the world to see the sunrise and the proximity of the exhibition site to the confluence of three rivers helped seal the decision.