Hundreds of world famous designers and even more fans of design gathered in Beijing on Monday to celebrate the opening of the 2011 Beijing Design Week.

Presidents of renowned design weeks in London, Milan, Copenhagen, Helsinki and Seoul, as well as over 200 internationally-acclaimed designers showed up Monday night at the opening ceremony of this year's Beijing Design Week.

The event, running under the theme "Design Beijing," will host over 130 different activities including forums, exhibitions and presentations of design awards.

Beijing Design Week 2011 aims to raise design awareness in China while strengthening creative, commercial and government ties between China and the rest of the world, organizers said.

The event was sponsored by the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Culture, China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the Beijing Government, according to a statement on the event's official website.

More than 500,000 fans of design are expected to attend design week activities which will last until October 3, said the statement.

(Xinhua News Agency September 26, 2011)