Karamay city holds the opening ceremony of the 2016 "Silk Road" Science Festival on July 22. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The 2016 “Silk Road” Science Festival is being held in Karamay city in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region from July 22 to 26, with nearly 2,000 guests from home and abroad taking part, according to authorities.

Delegates from nine countries including the US, Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and South Korea, along with contestants from 17 provinces and municipal cities such as Beijing, Hebei and Shanghai are participating in the scientific events during the five-day activity.

The science festival consisted of an opening ceremony, science competitions and public activities, themed forums and exhibitions.

This year’s science gala highlights cyberspace security, individual innovation and aerospace scientific and technology development.

Officials from Xinjiang and Chinese Association for Science and Technology take part in the opening ceremony. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

For example, forums on cyberspace security, "Silk Road" development and scientific cooperation in the Silk Road Economic Belt region are attracting scholars and security experts to exchange ideas on regional Internet security and state-of-art technology cooperation.

An exhibition of 2016 Silk Road innovation and entrepreneurship achievements is also drawing visitors, with artificial intelligence technology, 3D printing, virtual reality and individual proprietary technology on display.

According to the organizer, individual patents and inventions are key items on show, as they make the scientific festival a match maker event for innovative personnel and enterprises.

More than 400 youths and tutors representing 60 teams will participate in the final of the fourth national scientific stage performance competition. And the 2016 China Aero-modeling Design Challenge is being held during the festival, with participants demonstrating their self-built aero-models.

The festival is jointly held by the Karamay government and the Chinese Association for Science and Technology, in support of the Belt and Road Initiative Karamay city's scientific brands.

Chen Xinfa, Party chief of the Karamay city delivers the key-note speech at the Karamay ‘Silk Road’ Science Festival’s opening ceremony. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Chen Xinfa, Party chief of Karamay city, delivered the key-note speech at the opening ceremony. Chen said that Karamay is an important node city in the intersection of the Silk Road Economic Belt and Pan-Central Asia Economic Corridor and an important window for Xinjiang to the outside world. Chen added that Karamay intends to back up science and culture cooperation among the Central and West Asian countries through the science events.

Xu Yanhao, vice-chairman of the Chinese Association for Science and Technology, remarked that Karamay is a perfect place to hold the science festival, due to its location advantage, favorable infrastructure and rich experience in science events.

International festivals are currently the most influential science communication activities, with more than 30 countries hosting dozens of scientific events every year. Among them, the Edinburgh International Science Festival and the World Science Festival in the New York enjoy worldwide fame.

Beijing was the first Chinese city to hold a science festival, while Karamay has now become the first city to launch a science gala in the Silk Road Economic Belt region.

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