China's first national art festival for workers opened at the magnificent Great Hall of the People in Beijing Sunday evening.

The opening ceremony involved more than 3,600 workers from the petroleum, petro-chemical, coal mining, electric power, railway, urban development and four other industrial sectors.

Wei Jianxing, a senior Communist Party of China (CPC) official and president of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions, attended the ceremony.

A spokesman for the federation said that a variety of performances and exhibitions, including music, dance, opera, folk art, calligraphy, fine arts and photography displays, would be staged in a number of industrial and mining enterprises in the relevant provincial areas during the festival, which will last eight months.

The festival was organized by the All-China Federation of Trade Unions in cooperation with the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and China Central Television (CCTV).

(Xinhua News Agency May 12, 2002)