The First UNESCO Creative Cities Beijing Summit opened at the Beijing Capital Museum on Sunday.

With a theme of "Charming creativity, beautiful city", the summit was organized jointly by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, China's Education Ministry and the Beijing government.

Lasting from Oct 20 to 23, the summit is made up mainly of forums and conferences on creative solutions to city-related issues, from sustainable development to cultural preservation.

The events include the International Conference on Learning Cities, the Creativity Innovation Development Forum, the Mayors' Roundtable Meeting on "being a creative city" and the Beijing Forum on Arts and Creative Cities.

In addition, a series of exhibitions is being held in Beijing, with free admission to members of the public. Among them are the Creative Cities Exhibition at the Beijing Capital Museum, China's Oil Painting Exhibition at Dadu Museum of Art and the Art Design exhibition at China Design Market.

According to Liu Hui, a member of the Beijing Science and Technology Commission, this is the first time in recent years that UNESCO has held such an array of conferences and other events simultaneously in the same city.

About 500 artists, designers, experts, professors, entrepreneurs and representatives of designated "creative cities" and "learning cities" from around the world attended the summit, Liu said.

"The summit will promote China's innovation in science, technology and culture, promote the development of Beijing as a city for learning, arts and design, and enhance cooperation between Beijing and the UNESCO," Liu said.

The International Conference on Learning Cities will gather almost 300 representatives from about 100 countries to share their insights and experience on lifelong learning and developing learning cities, said Du Yue, secretary of the Chinese National Commission for UNESCO.

Du also said documents on the characteristics and criteria of learning cities will be passed and adopted as outcomes during the conference.

The Mayors' Round Table Meeting on Creative Cities Network, which brings mayors or senior officials from 32 cities together, will focus on improving the environment and quality of life for residents of cities, creating jobs, promoting sustainable development, as well as strengthening cooperation between cities.

The Creative Cities Network was established by UNESCO in October 2004 to enhance cooperation between cities in developing creative industries, spreading creative knowledge and setting up international channels of distribution for creative products.

The network focuses on seven core areas of interest: design, literature, music, folk arts, film, media arts and gastronomy.

Thirty-four cities, including Berlin, Edinburgh, Lyon, Nagoya and Kobe, as well as Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Chengdu and Hangzhou have joined the network.

Beijing was elected as the Creative City of Design in May last year because its distinctive features in innovation of science, technology and design.