A photograph on show at the China Cultural Center in Madrid on Dec 11, 2018. [Photo/Chinaculture.org]

A new exhibition opened at the China Cultural Center in Madrid on Dec 11 as part of the cultural activities to celebrate the 40th anniversary of China's reform and opening-up and the 45th anniversary of the establishment of China-Spain diplomatic relations.

On show at exhibition Pudong Today are 60 photographs capturing development of the Pudong New Area in China's economic hub - Shanghai, and changes in local people's lives over the past four decades.

Pudong is Shanghai's growth engine and a shining symbol of China's modernization. Yet 40 years ago, when China launched reform and opening-up, the area was mostly farmland. The State Council, China's Cabinet, announced plans to develop Pudong into a dynamic new area in 1990. Today, the area accounts for 20 percent of the city's land, 25 percent of its population and a third of its GDP, according to official data.

A photograph on show at exhibition Pudong Today at the China Cultural Center in Madrid on Dec 11, 2018. [Photo/Chinaculture.org]

Yao Yongbin, head of the Chinese culture center, said, "2018 marks the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Spain. It's also the 40th anniversary of China's reform and opening-up."

"China has changed from a poor country to a country full of vitality. Its economic reforms and social changes have helped improve living conditions of people across the country," he added. He also hailed the flourishing development of Pudong as a symbol of China's reform and opening-up and an epitome of Shanghai's modernization.

Exhibition Pudong Today is also on display at Chinese cultural centers in Moscow, Minsk and Singapore.

An image shows children playing at a swimming pool in Shanghai art exhibition Pudong Today on Dec 11, 2018. [Photo/Chinaculture.org]

Visitors look at images on show at exhibition Pudong Today at the China Cultural Center in Madrid on Dec 11, 2018. [Photo/Chinaculture.org]

Visitors attend the exhibition's opening on Dec 11, 2018. [Photo/Chinaculture.org]

Yao Yongbin, head of the China Cultural Center in Madrid, speaks at the exhibition's opening on Dec 11, 2018. [Photo/Chinaculture.org]