A reception marking the opening of the Kyrgyz Cultural Festival was held?in Beijing on?Wednesday evening.

Present at the reception were more than 100 guests from government departments, cultural, business and media circles of the two countries.

Addressing the reception, Kyrgyz Minister of Culture and Information Sultan Raev said the opening of the Kyrgyz Cultural Festival reflected the friendship of the two states and the sound developing momentum of bilateral relations.

Chinese Vice Minister of Culture Zhao Shaohua expressed the hope that the two sides could make common efforts for promoting bilateral cultural exchanges.

As the opening show of the festival, Kyrgyz art groups gave a performance at Tianqiao Theatre in Beijing on Tuesday evening.

Chinese president Hu Jintao in 2007 signed a joint declaration with his Kyrgyz counterpart Kurmanbek Bakiyev, in which the two states vowed to hold cultural festivals in respective countries.

Chinese Cultural Festival was held last year in Kyrgyzstan.

(Xinhua News Agency September 25, 2008)