Chinese President Jiang Zemin and Vice-Premier Li Lanqing, along with an audience of more than 2,000 Beijingers, watched Tchaikovsky's masterpiece "Swan Lake" staged by the Moscow Bolshoi Ballet (MBB) here Thursday evening.

Before the performance, Jiang met with the Russian dancers. Extending his welcome, Jiang said that the MBB enjoys fame not only in Russia, but also in China and the world at large.

He noted that Sino-Russian cultural exchanges have a long history, and such exchanges are conducive to enhancing the mutual understanding and friendship between the two peoples.

This evening's performance of "Swan Lake" is a new version of the dance first choreographed by world-renowned choreographer Yuri Grigorovich in 1969 and re-rehearsed in 2000, and has been acclaimed as the best suited to Tchaikovsky's original music.

The performance, warmly welcomed by the audience, was taken as high-quality art entertainment and a manifestation of the Russian people's friendship towards the Chinese people.

The MBB, highest representative of Russian art, boasts a history of 225 years. It visited China in 1959 when China was marking the 10th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

The ballet "Swan Lake" premiered in 1877 at the MBB.

(Xinhua News Agency November 15, 2001)