A five-day spree of book events kicked off with a flourish on Wednesday as the 24th Beijing International Book Fair in Beijing opened featuring guest of honor Iran and its theme "The Colorful Dream of the Silk Road".

Mohammad Rasoul Almasieh, cultural counselor of Iranian embassy in Beijing, said: "It's our honor to have this chance at the fair, which is a grand cultural event. The Belt and Road Initiative has already brought unprecedented development in our infrastructure, and we're expecting it to have more cultural exchanges."

Iran brought more than 100 publishers, writers, illustrators and artists to the fair.