A joint exhibition featuring the cultural industries of provinces along the Yellow River will be highlighted at the eighth Shandong International Cultural Industries Fair from Sept 19 to 23 in Jinan, capital of East China's Shandong province.

The Yellow River, known as China's "Mother River" and the cradle of early Chinese civilization, runs through nine provinces and autonomous regions. It empties into the Bohai Sea in Dongying, Shandong province.

With a length of 5,464 km, it is China's second-longest river after the Yangtze River and it is the sixth longest in the world. The river waters 12 percent of China's 1.3 billion population, 15 percent of its farmland and generates about 14 percent of its GDP.

The cultural fair, jointly organized by the Shandong provincial publicity department, the Shandong provincial department of culture and tourism, and the Jinan municipal government, is designed to showcase latest achievements in cultural and creative industries, as well as promote projects, enhance exchanges, and facilitate trade and cooperation.

The organizing committee of the cultural fair has hosted special promotion events in Qinghai, Gansu, Ningxia Hui autonomous region, Inner Mongolia autonomous region, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Sichuan, and Henan to invite local enterprises, organizations, and folk artists to attend the fair, as well as strengthen economic cooperation and cultural exchanges.

"Yellow River, as well as the Great Wall and the Yangtze River, are all important symbols of the Chinese nation and the spirit of the nation. While promoting the development of the tourism industry along the Yellow River, the provinces and regions along the river also inherit the Yellow River culture, displaying unique cultural connotation and self-confidence," said Zhao Shanhai, an official from the organizing committee.

A forum focused on the cultural and tourism industrial development along the Yellow River will also be held during the cultural fair.

An aerial view shows the Yellow River bed in Luoyang, Central China's Henan province. [Photo by Zeng Xianping/for chinadaily.com.cn]

The Yellow River, the second longest river in China, flows into the Bohai Sea in Dongying, East China's Shandong province. [Photo by Wei Dong/chinadaily.com.cn]