Award-winning works of design at the latest National Exhibition of Fine Arts includes a set of outfits made of traditional fabrics used by the Dong ethnic group.[Photo provided to China Daily]

Works of design were first introduced at the national exhibition in 1999, with the hope of envisioning a future for China's design industry "grounded in the country's reality of natural resources and addressing sustainable development as a shared mission of the world", says Du Dakai, a professor of Tsinghua University's Academy of Art and Design and a member of the national exhibition's judging panel.

The 13th National Exhibition of Fine Arts showed designs that demonstrate creators' efforts to incorporate technological advancements with a pursuit of good taste, whether their work centers on a major city project or a daily object.

Song Xiewei, who heads the School of Design of the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing, says works featured at the latest exhibition showed a close link between Chinese designs and the country's economic and cultural development. And homegrown designers have advanced to the front of the international stage.

The conceptual design of the Flydream magnetic suspension train, a joint work by Zhang Lie and Kong Cuiting from Beijing that won a gold medal at the latest national exhibition, sets an example. The two were inspired by the forceful, speedy movements of creatures, such as the orca, when designing the shape of a 200-meter-long train that can reach a speed of 600 kilometers per hour, a design goal.

Song, a national exhibition juror, says the Flydream train stands as an example of the design, manufacture, use and international marketing of China's high-speed trains.