The Hong Kong Palace Museum is set to open its doors to the public from July 2, with regular tickets to cost HK$50, officials announced on Tuesday.

The opening is part of celebrations marking the 25th anniversary of the city’s return to the motherland.

The chairman of the museum's board, Bernard Chan, said the new venue, along with the M+ Museum, put Hong Kong on a par with other major cities such as London and New York.

“It gives Hong Kong a potential to develop into an ecosystem. So it's not just for people coming to see and enjoy, it's also for, in fact, professions to develop in this area. So I foresee this is an amazing opportunity for the young generation," Chan said.

"We are now already the second-largest art trading hub in the world. The Palace Museum, together with M+ and others, have helped Hong Kong to develop into perhaps by far the best arts and cultural hub in Asia. But of course, we aspire to [go] beyond just Asia, I think we can."

Admission tickets will go on sale from June 14.

A regular adult ticket will cost HK$50, with access to seven of the nine galleries, while a HK$120 ticket will allow people to visit two other special galleries as well.

Full-time students, senior citizens, and those receiving Comprehensive Social Security Assistance are among those who can enter at half price.

For its first year of operation, the museum will be free to enter on Wednesdays, with limited access to the seven regular galleries.

Betty Fung, chief executive officer of the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority, said it would be impossible for the museum to be free for an entire year, like the M+ Museum.

She explained that the Palace Museum will be under financial pressure, even with the authority committing to pay up to half of the expenditure.

“We have to find the remaining 50 percent of income to cover the total expenditure. I'm very glad to say that we have been quite successful in raising corporate sponsorship to cover the cost of some of our special exhibitions. Each of them are actually quite expensive, up to HK$20 to HK$30 million per exhibition," Fung said.

The museum said it can welcome up to 7,000 visitors each day, but due to Covid restrictions, this will be limited to 5,000 at first.

Over 900 pieces that will be displayed have been loaned from Beijing's Palace Museum, including 166 classified as national treasures.