Ｃｕｌｔｕｒａｌ Ｅｘｃｈａｎｇｅｓ Ｐｒｏｍｏｔｅ Ｓｉｎｏ－Ａｆｒｉｃａｎ Ｆｒｉｅｎｄｌｙ Ｒｅｌａｔｉｏｎｓ

Cultural exchange is heart-to-heart dialogue， communication of feelings and a tie of friendship. Therefore， cultural exchanges between countries will， no doubt， help enhance mutual understanding and promote cooperation of mutual benefit. Premier Zhou Enlai once likened diplomacy， economy and culture to a plane. Diplomacy is the body; economy and culture are the wings. This clearly shows that cultural exchange and cooperation play an irreplaceable role in a country’s diplomatic activities. The Chinese Government always attaches great importance to the development of cultural relations with African countries. Cultural exchange and cooperation are as important as political and economic relations in consolidating the traditional Sino-African friendship as well as in establishing the new strategic partnership in the 21st century. They have made enormous contributions to deepening mutual understanding between the governments and peoples of China and African countries and strengthened their solidarity and cooperation.

The Sino-African official cultural exchanges started in 1955 when China and Egypt signed the summary of talks on Sino-Egyptian cultural cooperation in Beijing in May. In half a century， with the joint efforts of both sides， the Sino-African cultural relations have progressed. According to incomplete statistics， by 2005， China has signed with the African countries 65 agreements on culture and over 150 implementation plans of these agreements. Over 50 Chinese government cultural delegations have been sent to Africa， while China has invited and received 160-plus cultural delegations from African countries. In addition， China has sent more than 170 art troupes to give performance in Africa， and invited and received more than 100 African art troupes on performance tour in China. Exchanges and cooperation have been carried out in wide fields including press， publication， broadcast， film， television， cultural relics， museums， human resources development， etc..

Entering the new century， Sino-African cultural relations become more dynamic. After the 2002 “Chinese Culture Week” held in Egypt， the Ministry of Culture sent acrobatic groups， singing and dancing groups and folk music groups to the eastern regions of Africa on performance tour. They were warmly welcomed by the people of Ethiopia， Kenya， Zimbabwe， Zambia and Tanzania. Especially when Premier Wen Jiabao attended the Second Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Addis Ababa， Ethiopia， the visiting Chinese Art Troupe was giving performances there， adding a friendly atmosphere for further enhancing China-Africa political relations and economic and trade cooperation. In May 2004， the “Meet in Beijing” art festival made Africa the focus. From July to August of that year， the “Voyage of Chinese Culture to Africa” brought dozens of performances to 11 countries including South Africa， Zambia， the Republic of Congo， Nigeria， Ghana and Mali. The Chinese artists traveled to the southern， central and western Africa during the one-month tour， the biggest cultural exchange activity China has ever held in Africa since 1949. The tour was widely welcomed and highly praised by the governments and people of the African countries， forming a glorious page in the history of Sino-African cultural relations. In February 2006， the Ministry of Culture sent the Shanghai Art Troupe to African island countries including Mauritius.

A noticeable feature of Sino-African cultural exchanges in recent years is that China has given more aid to African countries in the cultural field， increased allocations for training African artists， and， thus， a number of cultural exchange items stipulated in the agreements signed between China and African governments have been carried out. Compared with other regions， Africa enjoyed the biggest share of the cultural aid provided regularly by the Chinese government. The Chinese government has set up cultural centres in Benin， Mauritius and Egypt (half of the six overseas cultural centres established by China)， which have organized various colourful activities to publicize Chinese culture. Confucius Institutes have also been established in Kenya， South Africa and Rwanda for teaching Chinese language as well as publicizing Chinese culture.

This autumn， China will host the Third Ministerial Conference， Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation， which will be a grand event in the history of the development of Sino-African relations during which all kinds of exchanges and talks on cooperation will take place. A series of newly-composed and choreographed songs and dances and art exhibitions will be presented around that time. It is true that cultural exchanges have always played an important role in the historical process of Sino-African political， economic and trade cooperation.

The author is permanent council member of the Chinese Research Society of African Affairs.