On May 21, 2021, the ISCM World Music Festival preparation meeting was held online. The content of the meeting wss very substantial and rich. The invited participants were the chairman of the International Contemporary Music Association Glenda Keam, the secretary general Ol'ga Smetanova, and the executive committee Frank J Oteri, Professor Zhou Xianglin, Dean of the Composition Department of Shanghai Conservatory of Music, Professor Zhong Juncheng, Artistic Director of China-ASEAN Music Week at Guangxi University of Arts, and five association member representatives participated in this online conference in New Zealand, Croatia, the United States, Shanghai and Nanning. . At the meeting, there were lively exchanges and discussions on the preparations for the World Music Festival, including the review rules of World Music Festival works and the agreement on the selection system of works, etc. It was decided that the selection of relevant works would be completed before June 20, 2021. The next preparatory work meeting will be held with the executive committee on June 30.

The biggest challenge facing the holding of the World Music Festival is the impact of the epidemic and the quarantine policy of the Chinese government. Due to special considerations, in March this year, Professor Hou Daohui, President of Guangxi University of Arts and Professor Liao Changyong, President of Shanghai Conservatory of Music met in Beijing. The presidents of both sides said that due to the impact of the epidemic, if my country’s entry policy remains the status quo at the end of June, The 2021 World Music Festival will be postponed to 2023 in Shanghai and Nanning.