President Xi Jinping witnessed the signing on Thursday of a cooperation agreement between the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Beijing's Palace Museum for the development of the Hong Kong Palace Museum.

The ceremony was held in the West Kowloon Cultural District on the first day of the president's three-day visit to Hong Kong.

Once the museum is built, treasures from Beijing's Palace Museum, also known as the Forbidden City, will be displayed there. Under the agreement, the cultural district and the Beijing museum will cooperate on exhibitions, staff training and cultural communication.