China Arts and Entertainment Group Ltd. (CAEG) was founded in April 2004, and its two major subsidiaries China Performing Arts Agency (CPAA) and China International Exhibition Agency (CIEA) were established in 1957 and 1950, respectively.

As China's only central State-owned cultural enterprise that has performance and exhibition business worldwide, CAEG has developed a nationwide market network of international performing arts, art exhibitions, and culture & tourism and theater operation, and set up branches in major cities in China and some European and American countries. It initially established an integrative operating system under the guidance of "Starting from China and going global" and is expanding its presence at home and abroad. CAEG was elected one of the "Top 30 China Cultural Enterprises" for eight consecutive years since 2009.

As the largest importer of international performances and exhibitions in China and the world's largest exporter of Chinese performances and exhibitions, CAEG stages on average over 4,000 different kinds of performances, exhibitions and other cultural activities in over 200 cities in dozens of countries and regions, attracting over 10 million attendees every year.

Based on 14 theaters that directly owned and managed by the CPAA Theaters, CAEG has initiated and organized a league of domestic theaters with 70 CPAA allied-theaters across 27 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, and the "Silk Road International League of Theatres" (SRILT) for countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative. Founded in October 2016, the SRILT has now grown into an alliance of 107 large theaters and culture & art institutions around the world, 69 of which are from overseas. They serve as a platform for international cultural exchange and cooperation.

The opening ceremony of the 27th East Asia Games

Equipped with international perspective and professional teams, CAEG plays a pivotal role in planning and delivering large-scale art festivals and State-level cultural events. Throughout the year, CAEG hosts or co-hosts many large festive events and major brand performances and exhibitions, including the 'Meet in Beijing' Arts Festival, the China International Chorus Festival, the China International Youth Festival, the 'Image China' performance series, the "Dances in China" brand projects,'Happy Chinese New Year' festival, the Venice Biennale-China Pavilion, the Silk Road (Dunhuang) International Cultural Expo, the China Art Industry Expo, the Culture Exhibition Area in the China International Import Expo, and the 6th Theatre Olympics. 

From the musical Mamma Mia

In addition, CAEG has undertaken a series of significant cultural exchange activities in recent years, among them the Beautiful China at the opening ceremony of 2013 Russia-China Tourism Year, the 27th Southeast Asian Games technology aid program in Myanmar in 2013, the art performances at the welcome banquet of the 2014 Beijing APEC Summit, the China-Africa Culture Performance at the closing ceremony of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation & the Year of China in South Africa in 2015, the Two Great Civilizations: Dialogue at the opening of the 2016 China-Egypt Cultural Year in Luxor Temple, the China-Latin America and Caribbean 2016 Year of Culture Exchange, the 2017 BRICS Cultural Festival, the theatrical performance at the welcome banquet of the 2018 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, the Culture Exhibition Area in the China International Import Expo in 2018, the artistic performance of the 2nd Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in 2019, and the art show of the Asian Cultural Carnival in 2019.

CAEG's productions include several multimedia shows such as ERA-Intersection of Time, Shaolin Warriors, Immortal Chi, and China Goes Pop, the original opera production Marco Polo, and the Chinese version of world classic musicals Mamma Mia! and Cats, which pool domestic and foreign resources and cater to both domestic and overseas markets.

The cast of the musical Cats