A Chinese martial arts performance at the opening ceremony. [Photo/provided to chinaculture.org]

The 10th Seoul Performing Arts Festival opened on Oct 7 in Seoul. The opening ceremony for China as a country guest of honor and the activity themed "China Night" were held at the same time. Qiu Guohong, Chinese ambassador to the South Korea, Shi Ruilin, cultural counselor of the Chinese Embassy to the South Korean, Zhu Kening, vice president of the China Association of Performing Arts and about 500 experts and artists from other countries attended the opening ceremony. 

Qiu underscored that this event offered an exchange platform for the countries. Artists and experts from culture related sectors could perform on the same stage, share views and experience and deepen friendship with each other. He believed that through this activity, they will reach an understanding on cultural inheritance, innovation, development and cooperation. And it will make more contributions to the prosperity of world culture and arts. At the opening ceremony, the Koreans presented a visual feast to the audience. A Chinese dance and martial arts performance was acclaimed by the audience.

Shi Ruilin said that this was an unforgettable night. He wished that Chinese and foreign artists here could take full use of this opportunity to exchange and deepen understanding.

The 10th Performing Arts Market was hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of the Republic of Korea. During the arts festival, the organizational committee will also launch China and Koran arts forums and invite artists and experts to share views on both sides' cooperation.