Culture year to promote friendship
( 2003-10-03 11:01) (China Daily)
The splendour of Chinese culture will blossom in
France through the twinning of cities, said the organizing committee of the
European country's Chinese Culture Year, an event scheduled to open in Paris
next Monday.
Supported by top leaders from both countries, the China-France Culture Year
will last until July 2005. The Chinese Culture Year will be held in France from
this month to July 2004, followed by the French Culture Year in China.
Sun Jiazheng, chairman of the Chinese organizing committee and China's
minister of culture, said a notable characteristic of the event is the active
involvement of and interaction between twinned cities from the two countries. In
addition to Paris, many other French cities will stage performances and
exhibitions with the help of Chinese cities with which they are twinned.
China and France currently have 47 pairs of twin provinces and cities. Some
big Chinese cities -- such as Beijing, Chongqing, Guangzhou and Shanghai -- will
stage their own culture weeks in Lyon, Marseilles, Paris and Toulouse. More than
20 Chinese provinces and cities will send local performers or exhibition
materials to their French counterparts.
In charge of twinning Chinese cities with those in France is Hao Zhongwei, an
official from the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign
Countries. He said exchanges between the two nations' twin cities used to stress
political visits and economic and trade co-operation. But he noted that France
is a country that attaches particular value to cultural exchanges, and so
cultural relations play an irreplaceable role in Sino-French bilateral ties.
The culture year activities will surely promote relations between the twinned
cities and enhance friendship and understanding between their peoples, he said.
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