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The Secretary for Home Affairs, Mr Lau Kong-wah, and representatives from major Hong Kong performing arts groups as well as personnel from the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority visited the Ministry of Culture in Beijing today (January 28). They met with the Vice-Minister of Culture, Mr Dong Wei, to discuss opportunities for staging more performances and enhancing development of Hong Kong performing arts groups on the Mainland.
Mr Lau said, "The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government and the Ministry of Culture have been working closely all along to push forward cultural exchange. We have worked with cultural organisations and units affiliated to the Ministry of Culture regularly on various types of projects. Major Hong Kong performing arts groups have also co-operated with performing arts organisations on the Mainland in areas such as creativity, joint touring and talent exchange, making quite a lot of achievements."
He pointed out that the major performing arts groups in Hong Kong have regularly been giving performances in many Mainland cities over the past few years, receiving support from and welcomed by Mainland audiences. The major purpose of this visit is to give a more in-depth briefing on the latest developments of these groups to the Ministry of Culture and cultivate co-operation in the performing arts field.
This afternoon, the Chairman of the China National Arts Fund, Mr Cai Wu, met with Mr Lau and the delegation. The China National Arts Fund was established in 2013 to promote artistic creation and nurture talents. Mr Lau said these principles are in line with the work of the HKSAR Government on cultural development. He expressed the hope that, through exchange and discussion, the performing arts groups and cultural organisations in Hong Kong could enhance communication with the Fund and in turn expand their development on the Mainland.
Mr Lau and the delegation will visit the National Centre for the Performing Arts and the Beijing Tianqiao Performing Arts Center tomorrow (January 29). They will watch a performance by the Hong Kong Repertory Theatre at the Center in the evening to gauge the reception of the local audience and the circumstances in which Hong Kong plays are staged on the Mainland.
Ends/Thursday, January 28, 2016
Issued at HKT 17:29
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