A new film festival, which seeks to promote cultural and economic exchanges between China and other countries along overland and marine routes used by Chinese traders to sell silk and porcelain abroad centuries ago, is expected to be held later this year in Fuzhou, capital city of East China's Fujian province.

The Silk Road International Festival was first held last year in Xi'an, capital of Northwest China's Shaanxi province, where Hollywood star director Oliver Stone was present.

Xi'an is considered the starting point of the ancient Silk Road.

The second edition of the film festival will likely run from Sept 22 to 26. Organizers aspire to make it a major annual event, following in the path of international film fairs held in Beijing and Shanghai.

Organizers said at a press conference in Beijing on Wednesday that various elements such as slogans, festival theme and the mascot have already been prepared for promotional activities for the Fuzhou event.

The event's organizers are also working on film cooperation agreements with foreign countries such as Malaysia, Italy, Singapore and South Korea, officials said, adding that global celebrities will likely be invited to the opening ceremony, and a major competition section will be launched for the festival this year.

The film festival will be held in Xi'an and Fuzhou in alternate years possibly as part of China's One Road, One Belt program, which are projects to revive ties among nations along the ancient Silk Road and Maritime Route. Fuzhou was also a landmark on the ancient route.

According to Chen Ye, vice-mayor of Fuzhou, the port city has significantly contributed to the Chinese box-office rise in the past three years, making it a natural hub for film fans to gather.

China, the world's second-largest film market, made 29.6 billion yuan ($4.77 billion) in box-office revenues last year, surging 36 percent as compared with 2013.

Sergey Mokritskiy, a veteran Russian filmmaker and artistic consultant for the Fuzhou event, said that the Silk Road festival will help bring more foreign films to China.

"The festival will pitch on strengthening the cultural communication with the countries and regions along the ancient Silk Road routes, by highlighting its unique culture based on oceanic transportations," Chen said.

Xufan@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 04/23/2015 page21)