BEIJING, September 15 -- Chinese President Jiang Zemin attended the opening ceremony of the Second National Joint Art Performance by Ethnic Minority Groups.

Singers, dancers and other performers representing China's 56 ethnic minority groups staged the colorful performance at the Great Hall of the People.

Vice-Premier Li Lanqing and other government leaders also attended the event.

A total of 3,700 performers are to stage 42 shows over the next several days in Beijing.

The groups' events are sponsored by the State Ethnic Affairs Commission, the Ministry of Culture, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television and the Beijing Municipal government.

The first such grand-scale show was in 1980.

-- source: Xinhua News Agency

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