In commemoration of 10th anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic relations between China and Korea, the Prime Ministers of China and Korea reached a consensus, when Premier Zhu Rongji paid a visit to Korea in 2000, of jointly holding activities of A Year of Exchanges between the Peoples of China and Korea in the year of 2002. At present, the two governments of China and Korea and the various circles in the nongovernmental organizations are actively preparing for the various activities for A Year of Exchanges.

Approved by the State Council, the Chinese side has founded the Organizing Committee In Commemoration of 10th Anniversary of Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between China and Korea -- A Year of Exchanges between China and Korea, which consists of 17 Ministries and Commissions and organizations, with Minister Sun Jiazheng of the Cultural Ministry as Chairman of the Organizing Committee.

The purpose of holding A Year of Exchanges is to make a better mutual understanding and trust between the peoples of China and Korea, to promote the friendship relationship between the two nations to face 21st century, and to promote the peace and development in Asia and even the whole world with bilateral and multilateral exchanging activities.

With the careful preparations of the Organizing Committee, the opening ceremony of In Commemoration of 10th Anniversary of Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between China and Korea-- A Year of Exchanges between the Peoples of China and Korea will be held at the end of March in Beijing and Seoul respectively. On that occasion, Sun Jiazheng, Chairman of the Organizing Committee of In Commemoration of 10th Anniversary of Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between China and Korea -- A Year of Exchanges between the Peoples of China and Korea on the Chinese side and Minister of the Cultural Ministry, will head a cultural delegation of the Chinese Government to Korea to attend and preside over a series of activities at the opening ceremony. The curtain of 10th Anniversary of Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between China and Korea-- A Year of Exchanges between the Peoples of China and Korea will thus be officially drawn back, excellent performances will be given one after another and climaxes will occur repeatedly on the stage of cultural exchanges between China and Korea.

Within the year of In Commemoration of 10th Anniversary of Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between China and Korea -- A Year of Exchanges between the Peoples of China and Korea, in addition to organizing the musicians of China and Korea to give joint performances in Beijing and Seoul respectively for the opening ceremony of the Year of Exchanges, the Cultural Ministry of China will also send the Chinese Shaolin Martial Arts Performance Troupe and a large-scale song and dance ensemble to give performances in Seoul. The performances given by Municipal Sichuan Opera Troupe in Seoul, the Chinese Culture Expo, the Chinese Movies Show, the Private Entrepreneur Delegation of China, the Delegation of Investment Promotion of the Inland Areas of China, and a Series of Show of the Chinese Well-known Historical and Cultural Cities -- all this will be the best presents offered to the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic relations between China and Korea. Besides, the performance of the opera Story of Chunxiang given by the BESETO Opera Troupe of Korea in China, the performances given by the Korean Ballad Troupe and KBS Symphony Orchestra in China, the singing performance of the Korean singers, the Korean Culture Expo, and the China Trade Expo in Seoul -- all this will also make the Chinese people have an even all-round understanding of Korea.

China and Korea can see each other on the other side of the sea. During the process of age-old historical development, the peoples of the two countries have learned and drawn experiences from each other, having accumulated a lot of successful experiences in the fields of cultural exchanges and collaboration. It is known to all that the Confucian ideas and the Book of Changes (one of the Chinese Five Classics left from Zhou Dynasty) have already been widely accepted by the Korean people while a few outstanding literary and artistic works, such as Arirang and the Story of Chunxiang are very familiar to the Chinese people. Since the establishment of the diplomatic relations between China and Korea, the exchanges between the two nations in culture, just like those in other fields, have made considerable development in the past ten years. The deep understanding of the bilateral relationship and cultural exchanges of the leaders of the two nations, the long-standing history and civilization of the two nations, the enthusiastic participation of the peoples of China and Korea, particularly the organizations and numerous personages in the cultural circles -- all this is the important guarantee for the Sino-Korean cultural exchanges to be developed.

Under the mutual concern of the Chinese and Korean governments and with the joint efforts made by the people from all walks of life devoting themselves enthusiastically to the development of the cultural exchanges between the two nations, the activities of In Commemoration of 10th Anniversary of Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between China and Korea -- A Year of Exchanges between the Peoples of China and Korea are sure to achieve a compete success, the friendship and trust between the peoples of China and Korea are sure to be further consolidated and strengthened, and the undertaking of cultural exchanges between China and Korea is sure to achieve even greater development.