GRODNO, 21 January (BelTA) – A center of Belarusian culture will open in Beijing in May, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of China to Belarus Cui Qiming said as he attended the Chinese cultural events in Grodno on 21 January, BelTA has learned.
“Apart from the economic relations, our countries have also been working hard to strengthen their cultural ties, which lays a very important basis for our future work. We can say that we are witnessing a new stage in the cooperation between Belarus and China. A center of Chinese culture was unveiled in Minsk in 2016. A center of Belarusian culture will open in Beijing. The opening ceremony is slated for May 2017,” the diplomat said.
He noted that the cooperation between Belarus and China has been developing rapidly and steadily over the 25 years since the establishment of the diplomatic relations. The most important results have been achieved in the most recent five-year period. “This has been the best period in the history of our relations,” Cui Qiming said.
The Chinese diplomat attended the opening of an exhibition by Grodno-based artist Marina Elyashevich. He pointed out that her works are widely known both in Belarus and in China. “Her exhibitions and workshops introduce people to the traditional Chinese painting techniques. Such cultural projects provide a good platform for the alignment of the cultural traditions in the course of the construction of the Silk Road Economic Belt,” Cui Qiming added.
The Chinese diplomat emphasized that the relations between Belarus' Grodno Oblast and China's Gansu Province serve as a model for cooperation between regions.
The list of Chinese cultural events to be held in Grodno includes a concert by the State Song and Dance Theater of China's Gansu Province and the exhibition of works by Belarusian artist Marina Elyashevich. The 2017 Merry Spring Festival in Grodno marks the upcoming 25th anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic relations between Belarus and China. The festival provides Belarusians with an opportunity to learn more about the Chinese New Year traditions. It has become a kind of a day of Chinese culture in Grodno, a Belarusian city that has been named the symbolic cultural gates of the Silk Road.
