Chinese leaders Wei Jianxing and Li Lanqing Saturday attended the Italian opera Madam Butterfly at the Central Opera House of China in Beijing.

Wei and Li are both members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.

The performance was part of the third "Meet in Beijing" Arts Festival 2002 which began on April 20 and is running until May 31.

Madam Butterfly, a masterpiece by Giacomo Puccini, was first staged in China in 1958. It has since been performed hundreds of times by Chinese artists.

An influential international arts festival, Meet in Beijing, was jointly organized by the Ministry of Culture, Beijing Municipal Government and the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, and it has orchestra, opera, ballet, drama and carnival performances.

(Xinhua News Agency May 4, 2002)