Crossing Borders, Making Ties

Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping inspires and underscores the importance of cultural exchanges during his most recent tour to Europe

From October 7-21, Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping journeyed to five European countries—Belgium, Germany, Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania—in a distinctively cultural tour.

Not only did he deliver a speech at the prestigious Frankfurt Book Fair in Germany where China was the guest of honor, Xi also inaugurated the Europalia China art festival in Brussels alongside Belgian King Albert II.

The festival, which allows China and Belgium to deepen cultural understandings, will help enhance and deepen mutual understandings, Xi said at the opening ceremony on October 8. Increased development of bilateral relations, added Xi, will most certainly follow.

Indeed, over the next four months, some 50 exhibitions and nearly 500 other events in the realms of the performing arts, literature and cinema will be featured by Chinese artists and artisans in Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Germany and Luxembourg to showcase both traditional and contemporary Chinese culture.

Scores of renowned Chinese musicians, artists, architects and authors, meanwhile, will take part in seminars and other events across Europe.

Cultural exchanges between different countries serve as an "important driving force" for world peace and development, Xi said at the Frankfurt Book Fair.

They are mechanisms with which countries can demonstrate understanding and respect toward each other, while overcoming discrimination and misunderstandings, he said.

Cultural diversity is a hallmark of today's fast-changing world, amid differences in ideologies, social systems and development models. Just as these issues needn't be barriers, cultural exchanges should serve to shore up international harmony.

Moreover, he added, different cultures should learn from each other to make the world more colorful and diversified.

During his meeting with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso in Brussels, Xi pledged China's desire to establish a Chinese-European Union (EU) relationship as a role model for peaceful coexistence and friendly exchanges. This partnership, said Xi, could transcend cultures, social systems and development models.

Both sides, he noted, should stick to the principles of "mutual respect and mutual trust, equal consultation, and seeking common ground while shelving differences" in an effort to advance Sino-EU ties.

China and the EU should seek to address disagreements properly and seek new areas of cooperation, while firmly opposing trade and investment protectionism, Xi added.

To further facilitate trade and investment, Xi joined Chinese and European entrepreneurs in business forums held in Belgium, Hungary and Romania. While there, he called on business leaders to work together to explore the potential for economic cooperation.

Chinese entrepreneurs traveling with the vice president signed 93 cooperative agreements and letters of intent worth $7.4 billion with their European counterparts.

In the EU, Belgium is China's seventh biggest trade partner and ninth biggest source of foreign investment. In 2008, bilateral trade volume reached $20.2 billion, up 14.4 percent year on year, according to the Chinese Ministry of Commerce.

By September 2009, Belgium had invested more than $1 billion in China. It is also a major provider of sophisticated technology to China. By August 2009, it had exported 494 items of technology to China with a contractual value of $2.88 billion.

Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania remain China's major trade partners in Central and Eastern Europe. Trade between China and the three countries rose to $12.01 billion in 2008 from $1.39 billion in 2000.

China has also invested some $250 million and $300 million in Hungary and Romania respectively, making them major destinations of Chinese investment in the region. Project contracting and manufacturing remain among the most promising areas of collaboration.

At a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Xi put forward a five-point proposal to boost Sino-German relations. His initial suggestions included deepening political trust, enhancing trade ties and economic cooperation to jointly cope with the international financial crisis.

He expressed further desires to cooperate on tackling climate change and developing alternative sources of energy while protecting the environment. Xi also called for stepping up exchanges in culture, education, media and tourism, while strengthening cooperation on global issues including reforming the international financial system along with food and energy security.

Merkel said Germany's newly elected government will continue to give priority to Berlin's relations with China, and is willing to work closely with Beijing to enhance substantive bilateral cooperation.

Merkel, who was re-elected to the post of German chancellor on September 27, also spoke highly of China's economic development and the progress it has made in implementing its economic stimulus package over the past year. With these efforts, she said, China has played a constructive role in helping promote worldwide economic recovery.

Germany is now China's biggest trade partner in Europe. Two-way trade amounted to $115 billion in 2008, representing more than one quarter of all of China's EU trade. Germany's investment in China, alternately, has reached $15.8 billion, also accounting for some one quarter of the EU investment in China.

On the other hand, Chinese companies have invested $980 million in Germany, making up 29 percent of China's investment in the EU. Germany remains China's biggest technology provider in the EU, and its third biggest worldwide next to the United States and Japan.