SHANGHAI Museum is set to treble its footprint with the opening of a second home in the Pudong New Area in 2020, its curator said yesterday.

The new venue will be close to the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum and at 80,000 square meters will be twice the size of the original in People's Square, said Yang Zhigang.

The two museums will be complementary, with the Puxi venue specializing in bronze and ceramics, and the Pudong site hosting displays of paintings, calligraphy and other artwork, he said.

Shanghai Museum, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary at its current site, receives about 2 million visitors a year, Yang said.

"It has long been in need of a face-lift and will undergo a program of repairs later this year, though that won't affect its normal operations," he said.

When the new venue opens, however, the People’s Square building will close for a more extensive refurbishment, he said.