China to promote culture exchanges with Pakistan under BRI

BEIJING: China will promote cultural exchanges with Pakistan and other regional countries under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

The BRI is not just about trade and investment but also cultural exchanges, which are set to bring promising changes to China’s cultural ties with other initiative participants, a senior Chinese culture official said on Friday.

The Ministry of Culture Vice Minister Xiang Zhaolun made these remarks at a news conference on the sidelines of the 19^th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.

Estimates suggest that, as of now, China has signed more than 300 official cooperative deals and action plans on cultural exchanges with participating nations, said Xiang.

Having established multilateral cultural cooperation mechanisms with east European and Arab nations and ASEAN economies, China is in alliance with a number of initiative participants in terms of Silk Road-themed theatres and museums, according to Xiang.

Sinologists and young scholars across the world will be given more opportunities to visit China and attend advanced courses on Chinese culture to help them better understand China, he said.

He added that China welcomes foreign works of literature and movies to be translated into the Chinese language, thereby introducing the material to the Chinese market, he added.

There is a huge potential left untapped in two-way investment in industries such as gaming and cartoons, as well as the joint protection of cultural heritage, the minister said.

“We have engaged in archaeological cooperation with 15 countries along the Belt and Road routes, and the list of partners will become longer in the years to come,” he said.