China's first national art festival for workers opened at the magnificent Great Hall of the People 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).

( People's Daily May 13, 2002)