SHANGHAI, Jun 17 -- MORE than 270 movie stars from around the world, including Sharon Stone and Maggie Cheung, walked on the red carpet in Shanghai Grand Theatre last night, marking the opening of the 10th Shanghai International Film Festival.

The film gala will entertain local audience with 800 film shows, organizers said.

Sixteen films, selected from 895 candidates submitted by 73 countries and regions, will compete for the Jin Jue Award under eight categories at the nine-day festival.

During the Festival, a number of other activities, including one aimed at promoting foreign investment in Chinese film industry, and a Japanese film week designed to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the normalization of China-Japan diplomatic relations, will also be staged.

The Shanghai International Film Festival, initiated in 1993, is the only of its kind in China and one of the two Category A international film festivals in Asia.

The festival will close on June 24.

(Xinhua)