The Centre Pompidou × West Bund Museum Project that opened in Shanghai in November is the largest-ever cultural exchange between France and China. Designed by British architect David Chipperfield, the glittering glass-clad museum is the most imposing newcomer on the Huangpu River shore: no mean feat in this billion-dollar neighborhood. “Shanghai looks set to become the new cultural hub of the 21st century," says Serge Lasvignes, President of the Centre Pompidou. “Museums are being established and developed there at an astounding pace. It was only natural for the Pompidou to participate, both to show off its rich collections and share savoir-faire with our Chinese counterparts.” For a reported sum of $2.9m annually, plus $1.5m for its branding rights, the Pompidou will loan works from its collections; create exclusive Shanghai exhibitions, and host exhibitions by Chinese artists at its Paris HQ. As well as providing revenue, “we hope [it] will encourage more Chinese tourists to come and visit our Parisian address," says Lasvignes of the contract, which will last for five years.

And the Pompidou isn’t alone in China. In 2014, London’s Victoria and Albert Museum began a five-year deal to develop Shenzhen’s Design Society, a gallery and cultural hub which opened in 2017. And last June, London’s Tate signed a memorandum of understanding to provide the Shanghai Pudong Museum of Art – set to open in 2021 – with three exhibitions and, crucially, management support and knowhow. It makes perfect sense. “Tate’s best-ever-attended exhibition was held in Shanghai," said Kerstin Mogull, managing director of Tate, at the signing. The show in question, “Landscapes of the Mind: Masterpieces from Tate Britain (1700-1980)," attracted 615,000 visitors in 14 weeks – that’s over 6,000 people per day. Needless to say, the Museum of Art will be housed handsomely. It’s set to open in a building designed by French architect Jean Nouvel, who is also responsible for the Louvre Abu Dhabi and the National Museum of Qatar in Doha – a city that, with its IM Pei-designed Museum of Islamic Art, is also no slouch when it comes to cultural and architectural ambition.

All this expansion hasn’t come without criticism. In 2006, when Abu Dhabi announced it would build its $27bn arts district in collaboration with the Louvre, Guggenheim and British Museum, critics scoffed: did this oil-rich emirate think it could simply buy cultural clout? Well, yes it did – and it worked. “I have been involved in the birth of many great cultural projects," says Jean-Luc Martinez, President-director of the Musée du Louvre, “and I can tell you, without either exaggeration or boast, that this one will leave a permanent mark on the history of museums."

Louvre Abu Dhabi, the first museum in the Saadiyat Cultural District, opened in 2017 after ten years of development. Nouvel’s building is a work of art in itself, with a soaring dome made from almost 8,000 unique metal stars. When sunlight streams through, it creates a “rain of light," reminiscent of the overlapping palm trees in the emirate’s oases. The collection includes artworks on loan from not only the Louvre, but 12 other leading French museums – including Vincent van Gogh’s Self Portrait (courtesy of Musée d’Orsay) and Jacques-Louis David’s Napoleon Crossing the Alps (from the Palace of Versailles). But the Louvre branding is undoubtedly the biggest draw: a privilege for which developer TCA Abu Dhabi reportedly paid $525m, as well as $747m for the loan of artworks and temporary exhibitions.

“That it took only ten years for [the Louvre] to emerge from Saadiyat Island is an extraordinary feat," says Martinez. “Ten years to build a museum of 100,000 square meters. Ten years to raise a dome whose weight is close to that of the Eiffel Tower. Ten years to perfect techniques to conserve the works in the climate of Abu Dhabi… It has been a tour de force!" Meanwhile, the British Museum provided an eight-year consultancy for Zayed National Museum, which is set to open in 2021.