Chinese President Watches Ballet Performance

Chinese President Jiang Zemin Watches Ballet Performance

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President Jiang Zemin watched a ballet performance December 24 evening with an audience of thousands of Beijing residents.

During the three-hour-long performance, artists presented ballet excerpts from Chinese and Western classics including "The Red Women's Detachment," "The Yellow River," "Swan Lake," and "Don Quixote."

The performance was jointly given by the Central Ballet Troupe, and ballet troupes from Shanghai, Liaoning, Tianjin and Guangzhou.

Prior to the performance, Jiang, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, met the leading dancers and encouraged them to absorb the world's ballet essence, be innovative and make China's ballet flourish.

Vice-Premier Li Lanqing, also a member of the Political Bureau Standing Committee of the CPC Central Committee, and other senior officials also attended the performance.