Chinese President Hu Jintao and Russian President Vladimir Putin
have called for more efforts to strengthen cultural ties between
the two countries.
In a message sent to "China Week" which opened in St. Petersburg
on Wednesday afternoon, Hu said that strengthening Sino-Russian
cultural exchanges is conducive to enhancing the understandings
between the two peoples and promoting the enrichment and
development of the two cultures.
Putin, in his message, said that cultural exchanges are a way
leading to better understandings, which, in turn, help expand
common grounds for friendly cooperation between the two sides.
Hu's message was read at the opening ceremony by Zhao Qizheng,
director of the Information Office of the Chinese government, while
Putin's message was delivered by the acting mayor of St.
Petersburg.
China sent a 300-strong Chinese delegation to the cultural
event, which will conclude on Aug. 28.
In the coming nine days, people in this northern Russian city
will be offered a grand feast of Chinese music, acrobatic
performance, fashion show and photo exhibition.
The Week of China, the largest of its kind held by the Chinese
government in recent years, is co-sponsored jointly by the
Information Office of the Chinese government and the St. Petersburg
city government.
In the past three or four years, about 285 Russian artistic
groups visited China, but only 30 Chinese art groups visited
Russia.
Zhao said that the Chinese government would encourage more
Chinese artistic groups to come to Russia.
(Xinhua News Agency August 21, 2003)