In the morning of Sept. 1, with the opening of Asian Art Museum Directors Forum, the 8th Asia Arts Festival (AAF) unveiled formally. The AAF, sponsored by the Ministry of Culture , since its birth in 1998, won the good reputation among the Asian governments and the arts field.

Starting from August 31 to September 6, the 8th AAF, with the theme of "learning from each other, and developing in a harmonious step", hold four main activities, namely, the grand performance of "Bravo! ASEAN" jointly staged by ASEAN and Chinese artists, the "Theme Conference of Asian (10＋3) Art Museum Directors Forum", "Asian Wonders - Art Exhibition of ASEAN", and "The 2nd NEACH & (10＋3) Cultural Personnel Resource Development and Cooperation Training Class".

Ong Keng Yong, the ASEAN Secretary-General, said that China has played an important role in promoting unity and cooperation between ASEAN members, and he believes the Cultural Week would further enhance mutual understanding and friendship and lay a solid foundation for cultural exchange and cooperation between China and ASEAN as well as cultural cooperation among ASEAN plus three countries (China, Japan, the Republic of Korea).