A national museum, a state art gallery, museums of film and automobiles as well as a new municipal museum will be built, said Mei Ninghua, director of the bureau of cultural relics of the municipal government.

Construction of the film museum, costing 370 million yuan, will start next month in northeast Beijing. It will cover an area of three hectares and is expected to be the largest in Asia.

There are 118 museums in Beijing, now.

(Xinhua News Agency October 21, 2002)