A museum dedicated to the history of Chinese film will be built in the nation's capital Beijing.

The State Development Planning Commission has approved the project, and the location of the cinema museum has been decided, according to China Cinema Foundation's annual meeting, now underway in Haikou, capital of south China's Hainan Province.

The project will be jointly undertaken by the Beijing Municipal Government and State Administration of Radio, Film and Television.Construction will be completed in 2004 and the facility is expected to open to visitors in 2005.

Cinema was first introduced into China at the end of the 19th century. In 1905, a photo studio in Beijing made the first Chinesefilm -- a collection of scenes from a Beijing opera based on a Chinese classical novel "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms."

( Xinhua News Agency November 27, 2001)