Vice Chairman of National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Ms. Zhang Meiying arrived yesterday to participate in the inauguration ceremony of Nelum Pokuna Mahinda Rajapaksa Artistic Theatre in Colombo.

The National Performance Theater will be declared open today by President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

The Vice President of Chinese Republican Committee was warmly welcomed by T.B. Ekanayake, Minister of Cultural Affairs and Pavithra Wanniarachchi, Minister of Technology Researches and Neomal Perera, Deputy Minister of External Affairs.

The Nelum Pokuna theater has been built on the former Nomads Ground in Colombo.

Constructed at a cost of 3.08 billion rupees with Chinese aid, the theatre consists of all modern amenities. It also consists of a movable stage and state of the art sound systems.

The main auditorium has seating capacity for 1,288 persons. It has a library, rehearsal halls and parking facilities for 500 vehicles.