BEIJING, March 18 -- China commenced a nearly two-year-long enlargement project of the National Museum at the heart of its capital on Saturday.

 

The National Museum, standing to the east of the Tian'anmen Square in central Beijing, used to be one of the ten celebrated constructions after the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949.

 

By now, the museum could hardly keep the increasing number of collections and sophisticated facilities, said a source with the museum.

 

According to the project plan, south, north and west wings of the existing buildings will be repaired and reinforced. New buildings will be constructed eastwards.

 

The new buildings will be a little bit higher than the existing ones and the architectural style will be preserved, according to blueprint of the project.

 

All the 620,000 collections and relevant facilities have been moved out of the museum to make way for the construction.

 

The National Museum with new buildings will be completed in 2009 and it will cover a land space of 70,000 square meters and 40.3 meters high.