Beijing is set to hold its sixth Asian Arts Festival. Artists from across Asia will perform in the festival, which starts on August 20th. Our reporter Wang Yanning attended a news conference to get the latest.

Artists from India, the DPRK, Thailand and many other Asian countries will once again convene in Beijing for the festival, to be held from August 20th to 30th.

At a news conference, Chinese Minister of Culture Sun Jiazheng introduced the goals for this year's festival.

Chinese Minister of Culture Sun Jiasheng said, "The Asian Arts Festival will provide opportunities for Asian companies, enterprises and organizations to increase their domestic and Asian visibility through sponsoring the festival. And the festival will exert greater influence in Asian cultural exchanges and economic growth."

The first Asian Arts Festival was inaugurated in Beijing in 1998. The following five festivals were all successful. 22 countries have participated by sending over 80 arts groups to the festivals over the years.

The 6th Asian Arts Festival will be held in two cities---Beijing and Jilin Province's Changchun. 20 arts groups from 17 countries will participate in performances, arts exhibitions and film screenings. The festival will no doubt evoke fresh interest among Chinese audiences toward the arts of other Asian countries.

(CCTV.com July 28, 2004)