The fifth Cross-Straits Economic, Trade and Culture Forum is to be held on July 11 and 12 in Changsha, capital of central China's Hunan Province.

Changsha, on the lower reaches of Xiangjiang River, a branch of Yangtze River, is an ancient cultural city with a recorded history of 3,000 years. The city has excavated more ancestral bamboo-slip books than any other city in the world.

More than 500 celebrities of cultural and educational circles from the Chinese mainland and Taiwan will get together at the forum, and all the participants will visit the city's Yuelu Academy and the archaeological site Mawangdui Tomb of the Han Dynasty.

Yuelu Academy, alias Millennium Academy, was founded in the year 976 A.D. in the Song Dynasty.

"The city has rich culture and advanced education, that's why the Forum chose Changsha," said Zhu Hanmin, head of the Yuelu Academy.

The Forum this year will focus on promoting cross-Straits cooperation on culture industry and expanding cross-Straits educational and cultural exchanges.

In recent years, Changsha has witnessed rapid development in the culture industry, widely known for its publishing, cartoon production, art performance and popular TV programs including the "Super Girl" Reality TV show.

The Hunan TV has also planned to hold a reunion party for students from mainland and Taiwan at the end of the forum.

Also, Hunan Province has developed into an attractive destination for overseas investment, three decades after China's reform and opening-up.

In 2008, the volume of import and export trade between Hunan and Taiwan totalled 265 million U.S. dollars, a 13 percent increase year on year.

Taiwan-funded enterprises have jumped to the second largest overseas investors in Hunan. The province's bidding for investment from Taiwan soared 24 percent in the first quarter of this year, despite the global economic downturn.