Bertrand Lortholary (left), French Ambassador to China and Olivia Grégoire, French Minister for Small and Medium Enterprises, Trade, Crafts, and Tourism Photos: Courtesy of the French Embassy in China

The France-China Year of Culture and Tourism was launched at the Harbin Ice and Snow World, in Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province on January 5. 

Bertrand Lortholary, French Ambassador to China, Olivia Grégoire, French Minister for Small and Medium Enterprises, Trade, Crafts, and Tourism, Lu Yinchuan, Vice Minister of China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism, together with Zhang Anshun, deputy secretary of the Heilongjiang Provincial Party Committee attended the opening ceremony of the cultural and tourism year along with the 40th China Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival. 

2024 not only marks the China-France Year of Culture and Tourism, but is also the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. 

A series of activities will be showcased in this special year such as drama, dance, and music performances, movie screenings and visual arts exhibitions, according to the French Embassy in China. 

Harbin Ice and Snow World in Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province

On January 4, Grégoire visited Shanghai for a meeting with the French business community and Chinese tourism industries, at which they discussed the cooperation in the field of fashion and handicrafts between Chinese and French artisans. 

On the same day, a press conference on the China-France Year of Culture and Tourism was held at the Palace Museum in Beijing. 

The main gist of the China-France Year of Culture and Tourism in 2024 is to showcase the "fruitful achievements" and "vitality" of the cultural and human exchanges between the two countries, Ambassador Lortholary underscored at the event. 

"Over the last 60 years, the people-to-people exchanges between China and France, especially cultural exchanges, have become a cornerstone for the two countries' cooperation," Lortholary said.