Young foreigners perform a song at the opening ceremony of the 2022 Belt and Road Youth Sport Exchange Week (Jiangsu) in Nanjing. [Photo/ourjiangsu.com]

The opening ceremony of the 2022 Belt and Road Youth Sport Exchange Week (Jiangsu) was held in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu province on July 12.

The annual event, which was first launched in 2020, is organized by the Jiangsu provincial departments of sport and education and the Foreign Affairs Office of the Jiangsu Provincial People's Government. It is held from July 10 to 15 and features a variety of events, including 3x3 men's basketball games, orienteering, and outdoor sports.

The event has attracted the participation of 198 young people from 55 nations along the Belt and Road who study and work in Nanjing.

Participants watched lion dance shows that originated in Nanjing and are one of Jiangsu's provincial-level intangible cultural heritages during the ceremony. Several young foreigners also performed Chinese songs and played African drums.

The exchange week is expected to help enhance foreigners' understanding of China and promote friendship between youths from different countries, said Wang Zhihao, a Chinese student from Nanjing Medical University, and Yongqiang, a Pakistani student from Southeast University, in their speech.

Bouaphat Phoutthavong, Lao consul general in Shanghai, said the event will also boost economic and cultural exchanges between Laos and Jiangsu.