Chinese Culture Year In Italy To Begin In September

Event Follows Italian Culture Year In China In 2006 Last summer, Beijing and the Lazio region of Italy announced a cooperative event that featured Chinese novelist Mo Yan as the Chinese "brand ambassador," and focused on promoting stronger cultural ties between the two governments while bringing more Chinese and Italian tourists to both regions. Following this event, China and Italy this week announced that "Chinese Culture Year in Italy" will begin in Italy next September. This "culture year" follows a similar event that took place in China back in 2006, and the "Discover China" promotion held in Italy back in 2008. According to Xinhua, "Chinese Culture Year in Italy" will include more than 100 events all over Italy, including performances of traditional Chinese musical bands, dances and operas as well as opportunities for meetings between Chinese and Italian entrepreneurs to facilitate trade agreements. "The Chinese culture year in Italy is set to be a central obelisk supporting further exchange between the two countries. It is a crucial project on which both governments have long been working," said [Chinese Ambassador to Italy, Sun Yuxi]. In addition to promoting cultural awareness and increasing business deals, the event appears to have another purpose -- increasing Italian tourism to China. According to China Radio International (CRI), last year approximately 190,000 Italians visited China, slightly fewer than in 2008. At the same time, Chinese tourism to Italy has increased severalfold, with almost 400,000 traveling to Italy in 2008. Italian tourism officials have said they hope to attract nearly 1 million Chinese visitors annually by 2011. CRI being CRI, however, they place most of the blame for the imbalance in tourist flows on bias on the part of the Italian (or, as they put it, the essentialized "western") media, and poor perceptions of China on the part of Italians. Nevermind the fact that Italy has a population of around 58 million, compared to China's more than 1.3 billion, a ratio of nearly 22 to 1. At any rate, Chinese officials hope Chinese Culture Year in Italy could improve China's image in Italy, a perceived issue that we didn't really think was an issue outside the leather shoe trade, but apparently is for Beijing.

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Chinese Culture Year In Italy To Begin In September