On November 22nd, the fourth Maritime Silk Road International Arts Festival, jointly hosted by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and Fujian Provincial People’s Government, commenced in Quanzhou. Wang Xudong, director of the Palace Museum, Liang Jianyong, head of the Fujian Provincial Department of Publicity, Guo Ningning, vice governor of Fujian province, Grace Fu Hai Yien, minister for Culture, Community and Youth of Singapore, and other guests were present.
Wang Xudong made remarks on behalf of the Chinese Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and announced the opening of the arts festival. He said that President Xi Jinping noted in the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation that the Belt and Road cooperation embraces the historical trend of economic globalization, responds to the call for improving the global governance system and meets people's longing for a better life. While the International Arts Festival has been regarded as one of important measures to ensure the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative. It is hoped that the festival could shoulder the important mission of promoting mutual learning among civilizations involved in the Belt and Road Initiative and stay true to our founding mission so as to continuously contribute to the high-quality development of the Belt and Road. At the opening ceremony, the attending guests also watched a new folk opera The Promise of the Sea.
This festival, themed around “Colourful Maritime Silk Road and Mutual Learning among Civilizations” and upholding the concepts of “Presentation, Exchange, Cooperation and Shared benefits”, will run through November 27th. It consists of three sections including the art performance and exhibition, the forum for art development and the internet art festival”, attracting over 1,200 artists, scholars and experts and foreign friends and 130 troupes from more than 40 countries and regions.