Performers dance at the opening ceremony for the 2020 China Hai'an 523 Cultural Arts Festival in Hai'an, Nantong on May 23. [Photo/ntfabu.com]

The 2020 China Hai'an 523 Cultural Arts Festival began on May 23 at the Hai'an 523 Cultural Industrial Park in Hai'an, a county-level city in Nantong. The Tajikistani, Egyptian, and Iranian ambassadors to China sent videos praising the start of the festival.

The park, founded in 2009, is the only national-level cultural demonstration area in Hai'an, involving culture, tourism, and the research and development, manufacture, trade, and promotion of cultural products.

Over the past year, a total of 20 cultural projects have been established in the park. The park has also worked with several embassies of countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to host various international cultural exchange activities.

A woman takes photos of artwork at the 2020 China Hai'an 523 Cultural Arts Festival on May 23. [Photo/ntfabu.com]

On the opening day of the festival, more than 200 artworks, including paintings, calligraphy, pottery, and embroidery, were on display. Eighty-two of them were collections from the embassies of BRI countries in China.

"It is my first time visiting Hai'an and I'm impressed by the city's cultural and artistic atmosphere," said Zhang Weiping, an artist from Dunhuang, Gansu province.

At the opening ceremony, it was decided that eight cultural projects would be established in the park. A Belt and Road international cultural exchange center was also unveiled.