As a comprehensive international arts festival, the Meet in Beijing Arts Festival is jointly organized by the Ministry of Culture, the Municipal People's Government of Beijing and the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television and presented by the China Performing Arts Agency and the Cultural Bureau of the Beijing Municipal People's Government. The festival is a continuation of a series of art festivals, such as the 1996 International Symphony Festival, the 1997 International Opera Festival, the 1998 International Fine Arts Festival and the 1999 International Festival of Folk Songs and Dances, held for China International Theme Year of Culture and Art. After the above-mentioned festivals were successfully held, the Chinese Government launched the Meet in Beijing Arts Festival from 2000, attracting over 100 art troupes and exhibitions.

The Meet in Beijing Arts Festival aims to promote the Chinese cultural tradition, to introduce the essence of the foreign arts and enhance the cultural and art exchanges between China and the rest of the world. The festival aims at the full-range inter-flow of the Chinese and foreign arts through governmental and mass channels, combining theatre performance and open-air shows of both classic music and popular art. The art festival is a magnificent multi-culture feast, a symphonic chapter composed by the peace-loving artists, and an interaction of the human spirit. The festival is rendezvous of the soul and the showcase of beauty.

With the economic and social development in China, Beijing, as a center of international politics, economy and culture, attracts the world's attention with its long history and young vitality. Let us meet in China and meet in Beijing in order to listen to the dialogue between the history and the future, appreciate the dances from the east and the west, while experiencing the fantastic movement of the multi-culture.

The Third Meet in Beijing Arts Festival was held in Beijing from April 20 to May 31, 2002, with over 40 art troupes and 4 art exhibitions invited to Beijing. Activities included symphony, ballet, folk dance, drama, and pop music, etc.

The Fourth Meet in Beijing Arts Festival is to be held on April 28, 2003.

(Official website: www.meetinbeijing.org)