The World Expo organizer is planning to build a museum at the Puxi site to display many of the popular exhibits after the event ends next Monday, an official said on October 25.

An exhibition about the Expo will be held in the Expo Museum in June with many exhibits from -various pavilions on display, said Hong Hao, director general of the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination.

The 20,000-square-meter museum will allow people to learn about the grand occasion of the Expo 2010, said Hong. The museum will also feature exhibits and displays on World Expo history and of future Expos.

The museum yesterday received its first exhibit - the Miguelin, a 6.5-meter electronically animated baby - presented by the Spain Pavilion.

"From now on, the Miguelin baby will be a Shanghai citizen," said Elena Salgado, the Spanish second vice president and minister of economy and finance, who presented the baby to Hong in the pavilion.

Equipped with a complex system that enables its face, neck and chest to perform dozens of combinations of movements, the animated baby sleeps, breathes, winks and smiles at visitors.

"We leave the exhibits to Shanghai to show the friendship that exists between our countries," said Maria Tena, the Spanish commissioner general.

More than 200 pavilions have said they hope to donate exhibits to the museum, Hong said.

The animated "Along the Riverside During the Qingming Festival" - one of the outstanding exhibits at the China Pavilion - will be displayed at the museum. The show is to go on display in Hong Kong next month on the first leg of its global tour and more than 500,000 tickets were sold within two days in Hong Kong.

Another centerpiece of the pavilion, a 20-meter-long painting that includes all the 200-plus pavilions at the Expo and vividly depicts more than 7,000 people, will go on show as well.

The Yezi, or Leaf, a concept vehicle that can be driven using wind and solar energy and on display at the China and the SAIC-GM pavilions has also been given to the museum.

South Africa is intending to donate paintings, pottery and sculptures made by indigenous people to the museum.

The Colombia Pavilion's gift is a model Haibao - the Expo's mascot - made entirely of emerald. Made in Antioquia, Colombia, the model weighs 3.5 kilograms.

Some exhibits at the current Expo museum in Puxi will be moved to the new museum where they will go on permanent display.