The Guangzhou International Documentary Film Festival China 2015, created to promote Chinese culture abroad and boost exchanges with foreign filmmakers, opened on Tuesday with a slate of more than 3,650 movies from 88 nations.

Tian Jin, deputy director of the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, told the opening ceremony that the festival serves many purposes.

"I hope domestic documentary film producers and traders can bring more good foreign documentary films to the mainland while trying to sell more Chinese products abroad to promote Sino-foreign cultural exchanges and cooperation," Tian said.

Guangdong, which borders Hong Kong and Macao, produced more than 603 hours of documentary films in 2015, doubling the figure from 2012, said Wen Guohui, deputy governor of Guangdong. China produced more than 6,000 hours of documentary films last year, a 50-percent increase over the 4,000 hours produced in 2013.

Wen urged local documentary filmmakers to shoot more movies that show the rich Lingnan culture of South China and local residents’ real lives.

It is the 13th year the southern metropolis has hosted the international festival, and "the event has now become a good platform for boosting Sino-foreign cultural exchanges and expanding sales of domestic documentary films", Wen said.

In addition to a showcase of Sino-foreign documentary films, trade, seminars, forums, lectures, and training will be part of the three-day event, which will end on Thursday.

The annual event is jointly organized by the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television and the Guangdong provincial government.