Diplomatic Pouch: With Mike Peters

The European Council's foreign affairs chief, Catherine Ashton, spent two days in Beijing this week, though other EU leaders stayed behind in Brussels to hammer out a debt-management deal.

"I have had two very useful days of talks with senior figures in the Chinese government," Ashton said. "In my discussions with Defense Minister Liang Guanglie, we looked at how to enhance our cooperation on defense and crisis response, in particular in the fight against piracy and through our plans to establish a more regular dialogue between senior officials.

"I continued my excellent contacts with State Counselor Dai Binguo, she said, "and we agreed to find a new date for the EU-China summit as soon as possible."

Androulla Vassiliou, the EU commissioner for education, culture and youth, also visited Beijing this week for meetings on expanded youth exchanges.

Representatives from Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark were present at one joint Nordic stand at the Music China expo, held on Oct 11-14 in Shanghai.

One of the focuses was to promote contemporary classical composers, but music for all kinds of instruments and ensembles, choirs and orchestras was displayed. Music China is one of the most influential music industry events in Asia. The show this year attracted more than 1,400 exhibitors from 28 countries with an estimated 50,000 visitors over the four days. European musicians were also featured at the concurrent JZ Jazz Festival in Shanghai.

Officials at the Innovation Center Denmark, Shanghai went to selected Chinese universities last week to present its new Top Talent Program, encouraging Chinese students to travel to Denmark to study. As a part of the promotion of the new Sino-Danish network, the Innovation Center in Shanghai has conducted a series of events at universities in the cities of Beijing, Wuhan and Shanghai.

Representatives from five Danish universities visited the China campuses. "We wish to stress how they will be attractive candidates for Danish companies represented in China if they bring with them experiences from a Danish university", says Lars Christensen, science and technology consul at the Innovation Center.

The EU Delegation this week hosted a preview for the 4th Annual EU Film Festival in China, which will take all month in November in Beijing, Chengdu and Shenzhen. New EU movies will be screened in commercial theaters in Beijing from Nov 1-14, in Chengdu from Nov 16-22 and in Shenzhen from Nov 24-30. Some will be shown at Beijing cultural institutes from Nov 15-30.

Each film will be shown in its original language with English and Chinese subtitles.

Czech Ambassador Libor Secka hosted a reception for watercolorist Tomas Cisarovsky, and also presented pianist Liu Zhimeng in the latest installment of the three-year Embassy Art series. The ambassador said Cisarovsky's paintings "are penetrated with kindness, understanding and harmony. At the same time, however, they vibrate with the aggressive tones of today's restless world." Cisarovsky's show, Free-Flow Watercolors, will be displayed at a Beijing gallery later in the year.

Embassy news can be sent to mike.peters.cd@chinadaily.com.cn