Diplomatic Pouch: With Mike Peters

The Lord Mayor of Copenhagen Frank Jensen was in Beijing for several days, signing a friendship agreement with Beijing Mayor Guo Jinlong and leading a large business delegation to promote sustainable urban development. The EU Ambassador to China Markus Ederer joined him for one panel discussion, along with Pan Jiahua, director of the Institute for Urban and Environmental Studies at the China Academy of Social Sciences, and Li Xun, secretary-general of the Chinese Society for Urban Studies.

Jensen also spoke at a forum for entrepreneurs and visited a sustainable development project at Beijing Friendship Hospital.

Radical Design Week, an event aimed at promoting Finnish design, innovations and Sino-Finnish cooperation, was launched on June 15 in Shanghai during the visit of the Mayor of Espoo Jukka Makela. The celebration of design, creativity and innovation will cover 40 creative events and run from Oct 10 until Nov 4. It is the biggest satellite event to be held in conjunction with World Design Capital Helsinki 2012.

The European Union delegation to China announced that the Chinese vinegar Zhenjiang Xiang Cu has been registered as a Protected Geographical Indication in the EU. The vinegar joins more than 1,000 agricultural products and foodstuffs, including six other Chinese products, that have received protected status in international trade.

China and the EU have been working for mutual recognition of 10 products from each side, and an EU spokesman expressed hope that the remaining three Chinese foods could be registered before the China-EU summit this autumn.

Norwegian Ambassador to China Svein O. Saether recently hosted a refreshing meeting with 23 enthusiastic and talented students from the Chinese Young Cultural Ambassadors Organization.

The Young Cultural Ambassadors Contest is hosted by the Chinese Society of Education and organized by the Subcommittee on Primary and Secondary School Culture Research. This yearly contest is on the national level, mainly for primary schools and junior high schools (grades 1 to 9) in selected provinces across China.

The winners get a chance to visit several foreign embassies in Beijing, to learn about other countries, their societies and cultures.

UK Ambassador to China Sebastian Wood hosted the British band Ash to perform a selection of songs for its Chinese fans at his residence on June 20.

The lead singer Tim Wheeler performed three songs for about 50 local music fans who were selected through a notice on the embassy's micro blog account. After the performance, the band chatted with fans and held interviews with local media.

The performance was part of the embassy's "Great" Britain campaign, which aims to demonstrate the best of what Britain has to offer.

Croatian Ambassador to China Ante Simonic hosted Blue Symphony, a photo and video exhibition by Chinese visual artist Rita Zhao last week at the Beijing People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries.

The event was part of the embassy's celebration of the 20th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Croatia and China.

Send embassy news to michaelpeters@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 06/29/2012 page31)