An art masters' Xiamen sketching event and sketch collection exhibition was launched on Dec 9 in Xiamen, the port city in East China's Fujian province.

The event is seen as being a key platform for enhancing Xiamen's cultural influene and presenting its vibrant image to the world.

Some 40 renowned artists from across the country gathered on Gulangyu Island to capture the beauty of Xiamen through their sketches.

The exhibition of their works will open to the public at no charge at the Xiamen Federation of Literary and Art Circles Art Exhibition Hall on Dec 18.

Fan Di'an, chairman of the China Artists Association, said that as a large art sketching event, the activity depicted and expressed Xiamen's efforts in Chinese modernization through painting.