ACC Secretary-General Attended the Launching Ceremony of Charms of Cultural Cities of the 14th Asia Arts Festival

On 7 November 2015, at the invitation of the Ministry of Culture of China, the People's Government of Fujian Province and the People's Government of Quanzhou, H.E. Mme. Yang Xiuping, Secretary-General of ASEAN-China Centre (ACC) attended the launching ceremony of Charms of Cultural Cities activity series in Quanzhou.

The Charms of Cultural Cities activity series was one of the major parts of the 14th Asia Arts Festival, inviting cities elected as “Cultural Capital ofEast Asia” in China, Japan and ROK and cities elected as “European Capital of Culture” to participate. Secretary-General Yang Xiuping joined H.E. Mr. Ding Wei, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Culture of China, H.E. Mr. Li Shulei, Member of the Standing Committee of CPC Fujian Provincial Committee and Head of the Publicity Department of Fujian Province, and H.E. Mme. Li Hong, Vice Governor of Fujian Province, as well as Mr. Kang Tao, Mayor of Quanzhou City, to launch the event.

The election of “Cultural Capital of East Asia” was the follow-up implementation of the consensus reached during the 5th Summit of China, Japan and ROK. Starting in 2013, the election was held among the three countries to select one city in each country as the Cultural Capital of East Asia for the next year. The cities elected were Quanzhou of China, Yokohama of Japan, Gwangju of ROK for 2014, Qingdao of China, Niigata of Japan and Ceongju of ROK for 2015 and Ningbo of China, Nara of Japan and Jeju of ROK for 2016. Quanzhou received the honour as the first Chinese city to have the title for its profound historical and cultural heritage, contemporary cultural innovation and achievements of cultural exchanges with foreign countries.

ASEAN designated the cities hosting the ASEAN and ASEAN plus China, Japan and ROK meetings as the ASEAN Cultural City. At the 10+3 Cultural Ministers’ Meeting in 2014 in Hue of Viet Nam, China put forth a proposal to actively explore the feasibilities of interaction between the Cultural Cities of East Asia and the Cultural Cities in ASEAN.

Charms of Cultural Cities as a one of the six major parts of the 14th Asia Arts Festival, provided more than 70 different activities in the forms of performances, exhibitions, markets, forums and so on, suitable not only for experts and professionals in the cultural area, but also for the general public, especially the young people.