SHENZHEN, March 25 (Xinhua) -- A three-week international music festival opened in south China's Shenzhen City on Saturday.

More than 700 musicians of 12 art-troupes from nearly 30 countries and regions will stage 16 concerts at the first Shenzhen Belt and Road International Music Festival, which runs through to April 16, according to event organizers.

The festival, co-hosted by the government of Shenzhen and Chinese Musicians' Association, aims to showcase the music of the countries along the Belt and Road and to strengthen the friendship of the people, they said.

More than 1,500 people attended Saturday's opening. The performances ranged from suona solo "A Hundred Birds Worshipping the Phoenix", to aria "Habanera" from Bizet's opera "Carmen", to the choral finale of Beethoven's "Symphony No.9".

The government subsidized ticket prices to enable more people to attend. The cheapest ticket for most concerts is set between 50 to 80 yuan (7.2 to 11.6 U.S. dollars), and the highest price below 1,000 yuan, the organizers said.