The 9th World Wushu Championships opened on Sunday at the Beijing Olympics Sports Center with a record entry of nearly 1,000 athletes from 89 countries and regions.

Liu Peng, president of Chinese Olympic Committee, opened the 6-day tournament. He was followed by a magnificent Taijiquan (shadowboxing) performance presented by one thousand Chinese masters who illuminated the spectacular opening ceremony with the theme "Wushu belongs to the world".

Li Lianjie (Jet Li), the well-known Hollywood Kung Fu star appeared as a special guest and delivered a speech to the audiences; "I feel delighted that the Wushu Championship has returned to our hometown and I hope for the rest of my lifetime that I can spread the spirit of Wushu - which includes humanity, peace, harmony and wisdom into every corner of the world."

Wushu derives from a wide variety of ancient Chinese martial arts and is composed of two disciplines: taolu (routines) and sanshou (fight).

For the 9th world championship, taolu comprises 22 categories in which Taijiquan(shadowboxing) and Taijijian will be adopted to background music during the competitions for the first time. Sanshou consists of 18 categories and is divided into 11 men's classes and 7 women's classes.

(Xinhua News Agency November 12, 2007)