Diplomatic Pouch: With Mike Peters

Rimantas Zylius, Lithuania's minister of economy, is one of many officials who have flown in to Xiamen this week to visit the China International Fair for Investment and Trade. Also on his schedule: bilateral meetings in Beijing, Jinan, Qingdao and Shanghai.

Coming right behind him is his boss, Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius, who will be in China for three days from Sept 11 to participate in the World Economic Forum 2012 (Summer Davos) to be held in Tianjin and meet Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao. The Lithuianian prime minister will also give a lecture, Crisis in Europe: Lessons Learned and Lessons Ignored, at Peking University.

The British Foreign Office Minister Jeremy Browne met the Hong Kong Secretary for Home Affairs, Tsang Tak-sing, in London last week as Tsang visited the British capital to lead the Hong Kong delegation to the Paralympic Games. Tsang and Browne discussed strengthening cultural and sporting ties.

Hong Kong is looking to increase the region's elite sporting facilities by building a 45,000-seat stadium, and an indoor velodrome is now being built. They are also planning to develop a cultural district in west Kowloon, including an art museum, theaters, concert halls and other performance venues. The British embassy website touts UK business involvement in these developments, "building on our expertise in culture and the arts".

The Mayor of Rotterdam Ahmed Aboutaleb is leading a business delegation on a six-day visit to Beijing and Shanghai until Sept 11. Rotterdam is a major port, and Aboutaleb's group conferred in the capital with major shippers, freight forwarders and shipping companies, as well as officials of China's Ministry of Transport. Aboutaleb's visit to Shanghai on Sept 10 is focused on maritime shipping of the past, present and future. In addition to meeting business delegations, the mayor will explore ancient trade routes and relations at the China Maritime Museum, a key part of historical business relations between Dutch and Chinese companies.

The embassy of Spain in Beijing will sponsor 10 days of Spanish cinema, ranging from Pedro Almodovar's bittersweet comedy Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown to Miguelanxo Prado's dreamy fairytale From the Sea. The films will be shown from Oct 21 to Oct 30 at Broadway Cinematique MOMA in Beijing. Visit www.bc-cinema.cn for more information.

Soren Jacobsen, minister counselor at the Danish embassy in Beijing, opened a seminar on heating solutions last week in cooperation with the Heilongjiang Provincial Development and Reform Commission. The seminar laid the ground for expanding Chinese-Danish cooperation in the area of district heating. About 50 representatives from China and Denmark took part in the seminar.

Danish Ambassador Friis Arne Petersen hosted a food-safety seminar this week to enhance cooperation between Danish and Chinese authorities on food-safety risk management. The program was an outgrowth of Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit to Denmark in June, and an agreement between China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine and the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration was signed.

Send embassy and consulate news to michaelpeters@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 09/07/2012 page31)