The 18th SCO summit will officially kick off tonight in Qingdao. Chinese President Xi Jinping will open the SCO summit with a welcome banquet and gala. One of the most anticipated parts of the evening's entertainment is a fireworks display. Our reporter Zou Yun has more details on what cultural elements will be on show.

Colorful, breathtaking and spectacular. One cannot over-exaggerate the charm of a brilliant fireworks display while this one will all be over in just three minutes, chief designer, Lie Lin assures us every second will be magical. But he also said there's much more to the presentation than just show.

LIU LIN CHIEF DESIGNER, SCO SUMMIT FIREWORKS DISPLAY "The value that we wish to convey is a community of shared future for mankind. That indicates when one gets honored, all get honored; when one is harmed, all are harmed. The SCO countries have a shared destiny. As the last chapter in five, we aim to pass on the idea of pursuing peace. We have put some symbolic icons in our presentation to echo that."

Liu Lin was heavily involved in the fireworks displays of many major events in China, including the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2014 APEC Summit. But this time, he said he couldn't just follow the same old patterns. Because of Qingdao's distinctive surroundings, he felt compelled to integrate local aspects such as the sea, the harbor and the city's beautiful skyline.

LIU LIN CHIEF DESIGNER, SCO SUMMIT FIREWORKS DISPLAY "The 7th, the 8th the 9th. There are in total nine ships that form the shape of an arc, in line with the shape of the big screen. That's why I designed two parts for the show, the first is placing the fireworks on the ships, which cover a range of two kilometers. Meanwhile, along the harbor, we have a chain of fireworks 2.4 kilometers long. So it's going to be very spectacular."

Indeed it will. 30 thousand ignitions will be made during the three-minute extravaganza. And they will all be triggered, perfectly in harmony with the background music.

ZOU YUN QINGDAO "Fireworks displays are usually aimed at sensationally bringing down the curtain on a successful event. It's hoped this one will be a grand celebration of the SCO's efforts to promote cooperation and prosperity within the bloc. ZY, CGTN, Qingdao, Shandong Province."