The 25th China Shanghai International Arts Festival has kicked off recruitment for outstanding productions to participate in the China Focus series project at the upcoming 2026 Festival d'Avignon in France and Edinburgh International Festival in the UK.

The CSIAF Center made the announcement at a news conference on Jan 20, marking the sixth year that CSIAF has collaborated with Edinburgh Festival to introduce outstanding performances to overseas audiences, and the first time CSIAF has partnered with the Festival d'Avignon to present the China Focus series, according to Ruan Jie, deputy president of the CSIAF Center.

"We are looking for new productions that combine the beauty of traditional Chinese culture with contemporary expressions," he said.

By presenting outstanding Chinese shows on the international stage, the China Focus series aims to promote in-depth dialogue between Chinese and global civilizations.

A comprehensive evaluation report on the 24th CSIAF was also released on Tuesday. The report ranked CSIAF in the top tier of global arts festivals in multiple core indicators, such as the international level, economic impact, number of premiere productions, audience experience, and industry platform efficiency.

The 24th CSIAF, which took place from Oct 17 to Nov 27, gathered nearly 20,000 artists from more than 80 countries and regions worldwide, surpassing internationally renowned festivals such as the Edinburgh Festival and Festival d'Avignon in scale.

A total of 96 percent of projects featured renowned artists and companies, while 36.5 percent involved first-time participating groups and artists. The festival hosted 1,400 events and attracted 14,437,400 participants both online and offline, with 140,900 attending the live theater shows, of which 12.6 per cent were international audiences and 31.8 percent were from cities across China.