Culture as a pillar of China-UK relations

As the second decade of the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and UK approaches, the state visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to the UK is expected to mark a new milestone for bilateral relations.

Cultural communication stays its crucial role at this historic moment when recent years witnessed extraordinary progresses knotting the two countries.

"The key to sound relations between nations lies in the amity between the peoples," said Luo Shugang, minister of culture. "Intercultural dialogues are essential for deepening mutual understanding and recognition between the Chinese and British peoples."

According to Luo, facilitated by inter-government cultural cooperation mechanisms, more and more China-UK cultural exchange and cooperation programs are developed within the contributions of various social sectors and promoted in a market-oriented manner under the guidance of the government.

For example, China Now and UK Now were respectively held in the UK and China during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and 2012 London Olympic Games.

Both events focused on culture and creativity. The events rolled out a rich variety of activities covering culture, trade, education, technology, and sports to attach rich cultural meanings to the Olympic Games and injecting new momentum into the progress of bilateral cultural relations.

This year, the China-UK Year of Cultural Exchange has been carried out, during which the Chinese and British sides agreed to exchange cultural seasons to showcase the cultural diversity and celebrate creativity of both countries.

The British Cultural Season opened during the visit of the Duke of Cambridge of the UK to China in March, 2015. The Duke added a final touch to a Shaun the Sheep sculpture in a traditional eye-dotting ceremony. With more than 30 creative and cross-boundary modern arts programs, the Season offers the Chinese audience rich and diversified experiences of contemporary cultural and creative development of the UK.

Chinese Culture Season, themed Creative China, has been launched in the UK presenting the Chinese culture and creativity to the British public.

"By jointly hosting such major cultural events, China and the UK shared with each other their respective traditions and latest development in the cultural fields, and enhanced the mutual understanding and friendship between the two peoples," said Luo.

In addition to governmental support, direct dialogues between the Chinese and British cultural institutions, art societies and artists also ensure and greatly foster the advancement of China-UK cultural relations.

"It's delightful to see various major Chinese and British cultural and arts institutions have established sustainable and long-term partnerships, facilitating the cultural exchange and collaboration between the two countries in a substantial way."

The panels expand to various fields, including nation-level museums, libraries, and theatres. For instance, in 2012, Passion for Porcelain: British Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum Porcelain Collection Exhibition was held in the National Museum of China and in 2014, Ming: 50 Years That Changed China was held in the British Museum, both attracting huge public interest.

As a successful role model case in China-UK collaboration in arts and creative economy, the Chinese version of the stage play Warhorse, a joint production of the National Theater Company of China and the British National Theatre, is highly acclaimed in China this year.

"Cultural dialogues are about the communication between hearts and minds，"Luo said."Despite being geographically distant and with different social systems and historic backgrounds, China and the UK are always mutually attracted by each other's cultural appeal."