A Sino-Japanese art exhibition opens at the Shanghai Wu Changshuo Memorial in Lujiazui, Pudong, on June 13, displaying more than 60 works by Chinese calligrapher Gao Shixiong and Japanese artist Myohseki Shimura. [Photo/china.com.cn]

A Sino-Japanese art exhibition opened at the Shanghai Wu Changshuo Memorial in Lujiazui in Shanghai's Pudong New Area on June 13. The exhibition will run until June 18.

The exhibition features more than 60 works by the veteran Chinese artist Gao Shixiong and Myohseki Shimura of Japan, who are both experts in seal cutting, the art for which Wu Changshuo himself was famous.

Shimura, aged 68, is an old friend of the Chinese people. He visited China immediately after the normalization of diplomatic relations between China and Japan in 1972 and was received by Premier Zhou Enlai.

The artist also played an important role in the commissioning of Japan's only statue of Wu Changshuo, which was built in Kitakyushu city.

In 2008, Shimura was given the Shanghai Magnolia Silver Award by the municipal government for his outstanding contribution to Sino-Japanese cultural exchanges.

Shimura said at the opening ceremony of the exhibition that this is his 197th visit to China and he feels honored to display his works at Wu Changshuo Memorial together with Gao.

The six-day exhibition is launched to commemorate the 45th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between China and Japan and further enhance folk cultural exchanges between the two countries.

Gao Shixiong (right), a well-known Chinese calligrapher and seal cutting expert, holds up one of his calligraphy works at the opening ceremony of a Sino-Japanese art exhibition at the Shanghai Wu Changshuo Memorial on June 13. [Photo/china.com.cn]