China Women and Children's Museum, the first national museum on the social changes concerning women and children, opened to the public on Sunday.

Chinese State Councilor Liu Yandong attended the opening ceremony.

The museum is built to exhibit the role of women and children in the history and society, said the All-China Women's Federation (ACWF) chairwoman Chen Zhili when delivering a speech at the opening ceremony.

Chen, also vice chairwoman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, said she expected the museum would provide a good platform to showcase China's culture, history and development.

The museum is located in the east Chang'an Avenue in downtown Beijing. It covers an area of 35,000 square meters and has some 30,000 exhibits.

(Xinhua News Agency January 11, 2010)