SHANGHAI, May 1 (Xinhua) -- The World Expo Museum opened to the public in Shanghai on Monday.

The museum is located on the former site of the 2010 Shanghai World Expo. It is the only official museum and documentation center in the world entirely dedicated to Expos and authorized by the Paris-based Bureau International des Expositions (BIE).

The museum, jointly built by Shanghai Municipal Government and BIE, is also the first museum in the world to showcase the history of the World Expos' development.

With eight permanent exhibition halls, the museum covers a total of 9,000 square meters, exhibiting more than 3,000 collections from around the world.

It is expected to become a new cultural landmark of Shanghai, local authorities said.