Companies from nine countries - Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, Myanmar and South Korea - are expected to participate in the first Yunnan Cultural Industries Expo which will open in Kunming on August 9, according to the Yunnan Cultural Industries Office.

Chen Fei, a manager at the Kunming International Convention and Exhibition Center, said the foreign participants will mainly exhibit ethnic handicrafts, and more countries are set to participate in the upcoming expo than in a previous expo that only focused on ethnic and folk handicrafts. One of the expected participants, Laos, is preparing to showcase jewelry, and Nepal is set to display thangka (painting on silk with embroidery), wood carvings and Buddhist handicrafts.

The Expo will also feature an exhibition of jade carvings and an auction that will include a jade carving created by Hong Fushou, a sculptor from Taiwan. Hong is one of the most admired sculptors of crystal carvings related to Tibetan Buddhism, and one of his carvings is displayed at the Musée Guimet in Paris.

The Yunnan Cultural Industries Expo will integrate various events - including the Kunming Pan-Asia International Ethnic Folk Arts & Crafts Expo, Yunnan Jade Carving Master Works Exhibition and Yunnan Cultural Innovation Week – in a single event.

Edited by Fu Bo and Niva Whyman