THE Hong Kong Palace Museum, which will display the Palace Museum collection from Beijing, will be a “jewel on the crown” beside the world-famous Victoria Harbor, Chief Executive of China’s Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Carrie Lam said Monday.

At a groundbreaking ceremony for the HKPM held Monday in Hong Kong’s West Kowloon Cultural District, Lam said “as the much-anticipated West Kowloon Cultural District is gradually becoming a prominent landmark on the waterfront of Victoria Harbor, the Hong Kong Palace Museum will be the jewel on the crown.”

“With the new dedicated museum, local residents and visitors will enjoy long-term opportunities to appreciate the exquisite Palace Museum collection exhibitions, which will be curated in a comprehensive and in-depth manner with Hong Kong characteristics,” she said.

Hong Kong authorities and the Palace Museum in Beijing signed a cooperation agreement in June last year on the development of the HKPM.

Pointing out that the HKPM “builds on the very strong and solid cooperation” between the Hong Kong SAR and the Palace Museum over the years, Lam said the new museum will enrich the scope of the West Kowloon Cultural District.

The museum, expected to be completed in 2022, will have 7,600 square meters of gallery space dedicated to gold, bronze and jade items, paintings, and ceramic objects, as well as displays on life in the Imperial Court. Other museum facilities include a 400-seat lecture theater, activity rooms, a restaurant and shops.

Praising it as a “world-class museum” for long-term display of artifacts from the Palace Museum, chairman of Hong Kong Palace Museum Ltd. Bernard Charnwut Chan said the HKPM will enrich Hong Kong people’s cultural life and further enhance Hong Kong’s position as an international cultural metropolis. (Xinhua)