Chinese National Academy of Arts and the European Union’s National Institutes
for Culture (EUNIC). Following the inaugural session Beijing in October, 2008,
this program was held annually in Copenhagen, Shanghai and Luxembourg with
the participation of more than 100 Chinese and European cultural celebrities for
each session, providing a platform for decent exchanges.
Meanwhile, the cultural exchange activities between China and EU member
states became more European originated. China attended the Europalia Arts
Festival inaugurated in Brussels in October, 2009 as a major host country. The
event was a signatory Belgian cultural brand and has significant influence
throughout Europe. The Arts Festival continued for four months, covering Belgian
cities including Antwerp, Brugge, Ghent, as well as countries like Germany,
France, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. With a focus of four themes:“Ancient
China”,“Contemporary China”,“Colorful China”and“China and the World”, the
event was dominated by performances and exhibitions, with approximately 450
supporting lectures, seminars, forums and large celebration ceremonies. It took
three years to prepare for this Festival, which made it one of the largest cultural
events held by China overseas.
Since China released the 11th Five-year National Plan for Cultural Development
in 2006, more priorities were placed on foreign cultural exchanges, offering
favorable opportunities to develop China-EU cultural relations. The Chinese
Ministry of Culture in charge of foreign cultural activities, confirmed the overall
policy direction as“the international cultural exchange activities shall serve the
national diplomatic strategy, domestic cultural construction and promotion of
national reunification”. The work priorities included: actively support major state
activities to further showcase the charm of cultural diplomacy; striving for com-
prehensive foreign cultural exchanges to promote friendship and partnership
between China and the rest of the world; proactively participating in international
multilateral cultural activities to enhance China’s voice in the international arena;
consolidating and promoting existing cultural exchange brands and building a
number of new brands. Both China and the EU advocated cultural diversity and
support inter-civilization dialogues where both sides had a solid foundation for
cultural exchanges. The abundant cultural resources, developed cultural industry
and sophisticated market operation experience in EU countries, plus the interests of
European cultural and art dealers to engage China, already created a decent plat-
form for Chinese culture to“go global”and demonstrate the national image of
contemporary China.^4
Based on above assessment, cultural exchange activities between China and EU
member states developed comprehensively during the period of 2006–2009. China
and EU member states signed many cultural exchange agreements in 2007,
including the 2007 – 2010 Cultural Exchange Execution Plan between China and
the French-Speaking Community of Belgium, the 2007 – 2010 Cultural Exchange
(^4) Ten Highlights of China’s Foreign Cultural Exchange Work in 2007 released by the Chinese
Ministry of Culture,http://www.gov.cn/gzdt/2008-01/10/content_855080.htm.
98 T. Dewen