Beijing’s world-renowned Palace Museum celebrates its centenary this month. In the first of a three-part series to mark the anniversary, Ambrose Li examines how the West Kowloon Cultural District, home to the Hong Kong Palace Museum, can tackle the thorny issue of funding.

When Bernard Chan recently took over as the new chairman of the body managing Hong Kong’s premier arts hub, he made his top priority clear: to ensure its cultural facilities were financially sustainable in the long run.

“We will implement robust revenue generation and commercialisation measures to provide a more solid foundation for achieving long-term financial sustainability, thereby advancing Hong Kong’s cultural and creative industries ecosystem and fostering cultural and creative tourism,” Chan said when his appointment was announced on September 23.

The government had earlier hinted at the importance of self-financing during the South China Morning Post’s Redefining Hong Kong conference on culture, sports and tourism on September 1, which Chan and culture minister Rosanna Law Shuk-pui took part in.

Responding to remarks by Chan on Hong Kong needing a world-class music venue and its funding, Law said: “If you get the money, I will support you.”