A branch of Beijing's Palace Museum, generally known as the Forbidden City, will open in Hong Kong in 2022 to give residents and tourists an opportunity to view some of China's most treasured artifacts.

On May 28, the ground-breaking ceremony for the Hong Kong Palace Museum was held at the West Kowloon Cultural District, marking the official kick-off of construction.

Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government, attended the ceremony and delivered the keynote speech.

She said the building of the Hong Kong Palace Museum cannot be separated from the strong support of the central government and the practice of the "one country, two systems" policy.

"The collections in the Palace Museum are the essence of Chinese culture and the treasures of human civilization. The Hong Kong Palace Museum will display the cultural treasures of the Forbidden City in a long-term, comprehensive and in-depth manner, which will greatly help Hong Kong's cultural undertakings," she said.

The director of the National Palace Museum, Shan Jixiang, said that Beijing's Palace Museum will cooperate with its Hong Kong counterpart in such fields as multimedia, cultural and creative products and lectures.

He also hoped the treasures of the Palace Museum would "come alive" and step into the daily lives of Hong Kong residents.

The Palace Museum and Hong Kong authorities signed a memorandum of cooperation on the Hong Kong Palace Museum in Beijing in December 2016.

Expected to be built on an area of 10,000 square meters in Hong Kong, the museum will have permanent exhibitions on the culture and history of the Palace Museum and imperial life.