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Invited by the CPAFFC, an 87-member Panasonic Choir of Japan paid a visit to Beijing and Dalian from April 17 to 22 and gave three concerts which won acclaim from an audience of over 3,000.

Spreading China-Japan Friendship and

Promoting Cultural Exchanges

To commemorate the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Sino-Japanese Peace and Friendship Treaty, on April 18 the Panasonic Choir and the Red Star Chorus of the PLA Art Academy jointly held a concert in the Beijing Forbidden City Concert Hall. CPAFFC Vice President Jing Dunquan, famous singer Li Shuangjiang, President of the Chorus League of the Chinese Musicians Association Xu Xiyi, diplomats of the Japanese Embassy in China and wife of the Japanese ambassador attended the concert. Panasonic Corporation, a world well-known enterprise and a full global cooperation partner of the Beijing Olympic Games, actively participates in the cultural exchanges and public welfare programmes. The Panasonic Choir composed of about 100 staffers of the Corporation and founded in 1974 is a famous amateur choir in Japan. Every year it holds regular concerts in Japan and takes part in the countrys amateur choir competition that reflects the level of choir singing in Japan. So far it has won the golden prize 17 times and the championship of the competition 11 times in secession.

The Red Star Chorus of the PLA Art Academy, a chorus composed of young singers whose average age is under 20, has considerably high chorus singing skill and won the golden prize in the chorus part of the just concluded 13th National Young Singers Competition hosted by the CCTV. These two choruses that represent the highest level of the Chinese and Japanese amateur chorus sang folk and popular songs of their respective countries and won waves of applause. About 150 singers of the two choruses standing side by side on the stage sang in unison the Chinese song Jasmine Flower in Chinese and the Japanese song Sakura in Japanese. The familiar beautiful melodies and good harmony echoed in the hall and entered the hearts of the audience. Bursts of warm applause pushed the concert to its climax.

On April 21, the Music of Sakura—Concert for Spreading Sino-Japanese Friendship was held in Dalian for the workers and staff of China Hualu Panasonic AVC Networks Co., Ltd. When 200 staffers of the Company and the Japanese choir sang together Jasmine Flower, and the audience of 2,000 waved jasmine flowers in their hands to the melody of the song, the gymnasium of the Company decorated with large posters on which were written “Spreading Sino-Japanese Friendship and Promoting Cultural Exchanges, Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of the Signing of the Sino-Japanese Peace and Friendship Treaty”, etc., where the concert was held, became a sea of jasmine flowers, songs and friendship. The singers on the stage were moved to tears. After the concert, members of the Japanese choir said, this was the most unforgettable and touching performance they had ever experienced. One member of the choir said excitedly, “I have begun to like China.”

Willing to Strengthen Cultural Exchanges with the CPAFFC

In his meeting with the Panasonic Choir, CPAFFC Vice President Jing Dunquan affirmed the contributions made by Panasonic Corporation to the development of Chinas electrical appliance industry and expressed his welcome to the Choirs visit to China on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Sino-Japanese Peace and Friendship Treaty. He said, art without national boundaries transcends races and all cultural backgrounds and can link peoples hearts without the help of language. He hoped the Choirs performance in China would become a bridge for the cultural exchanges between China and Japan. Yukio Shohtoku, head of the Japanese delegation and former vice president of Panasonic Corporation, said that he felt greatly honoured to visit China on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Sino-Japanese Peace and Friendship Treaty and the cooperation between Panasonic Corporation and China and in the year of the Beijing Olympic Games. 30 years ago His Excellency Deng Xiaoping visited Panasonic Corporation and had talks with Konosuke Matsushita, founder of the Corporation. The two sides reached the consensus that “The 21st century is the era of Asia, particularly the era of Asia with China and Japan as the centre.” Today 30 years later, Panasonic Corporation is willing to continue to strengthen friendly relations with China. Yukio Shohtoku hoped that the concert would promote the development of friendship between the two countries. Wang Xiaoxian, vice president of the China-Japan Friendship Association, entertained the head of the Japanese delegation and the choir master. Li Shuangjiang and Xu Xiyi attended the banquet and the concert. The Chinese musicians praised the singing skill of the Japanese choir and welcomed them to have more exchanges with Chinese choruses.