A ceremony was held in Beijing to inaugurate the newly-built Capital Museum compound in downtown Beijing Monday, which is designed to display the city's past, present and future.

The ceremony was attended by Jia Qinglin, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee.

Liu Qi, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and secretary of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the CPC, and State Councilor Chen Zhili were also present at the ceremony.

The old site of the museum was located inside the Confucian Temple and it was considered too small and old.

The new building, which began construction in 2001, is a five-story compound, plus a two-story basement, with a total floor space of 63,800 square meters.

More 5,000 cultural relics are on display in the new museum, many being openly exhibited for the first time.

Source: Xinhua