The "Silk Road Artists' Rendezvous" exhibition opened at the Cairo Opera House on Monday, displaying artworks from Arab countries and China featuring paintings and porcelain.

Chinese Minister of Culture and Tourism Hu Heping, Egyptian Minister of Culture Neveen Al-Kilany, Arab League assistant secretary general Haifa Abu Ghazaleh and Chinese Ambassador to Egypt Liao Liqiang attended the opening ceremony.

During the opening ceremony, Ahmed Nawar, an artist from Egypt, read a letter written by Arab artists to Chinese President Xi Jinping. Hu read a reply from President Xi to the Arab artists.

Xi's reply spoke highly of the important contributions made by Arab artists to promote the communication between Chinese and Arab people, and once again advocated strengthening exchanges and mutual learning between Chinese and Arab civilizations, and promoting the building of a China-Arab community with a shared future in the new era, he said.

The exhibition is "a recognition of the prominent role played by the Silk Road via several centuries in promoting the cultural exchange among ancient civilizations in addition to its essential function as a trade passage," said Al-Kilany.

She added that over the past seven decades and more, the Egyptian-Chinese cultural ties witnessed continuous development in all fields, and that cultural ties have always been the momentum behind state-to-state and people-to-people connections.