The launching ceremony of the “Picturesque Zhejiang” Promotion Season in Europe and Asia was held on Friday in Hangzhou. Hosted by Zhejiang Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, the event welcomed distinguished guests, including Mr. Xu Peng, Deputy Director-General and first class Inspector of Zhejiang Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, Mr. Yao Guowen, Deputy Director-General of the Department of Foreign Affairs of Zhejiang Provincial People’s Government, Mr. Guo Qing, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Zhejiang Media Group, and Mr. Lukyantsev Dmitrii, Consul General of Consulate General of the Russian Federation in Shanghai.

At the event, Deputy Director Xu Peng delivered a keynote speech onsite. He said, Zhejiang and Eurasian countries share close ties in various fields including economy, trade, culture, and tourism, and that the two parties have constantly produced fruits in exchanges and cooperation guided by the Belt and Road Initiative. He also noted that this event aims to consolidate friendship and promote mutual learning among civilizations and people-to-people exchanges between the two parties through showing the beautiful scenery and rich culture of Zhejiang to the people of Eurasian countries.

Via videolink, Mr. Lukyantsev Dmitrii also delivered a speech. He said, cultural cooperation, as one of the most important drivers for international relations development, helps to bridge cultural differences and bring people closer. He expressed his gratitude to Zhejiang Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism for organizing the event to enhance cultural exchanges between China and Russia as well as his expectation of connectivity, mutual benefit, win-win cooperation, and more business opportunities between the two countries.

In addition, Mr. Huang Zi, General Designer of the Conservation and Exhibition Project of the Southern Song Dynasty Deshou Palace Ruins Museum in Hangzhou and Chief Expert of Zhejiang Province Institute of Architectural Design and Research (ZIAD), served as special promoter and shared his insight on the importance to spread the culture of Zhejiang, especially that of the Southern Song Dynasty, of which capital was Zhejiang’s Hangzhou.

A six-episode documentary series titled Embrace Zhejiang, also the theme of “Picturesque Zhejiang” Promotion Season in Eurasia, was commissioned as part of the program. The series features 20 short videos showcasing moving stories of ordinary people, beautiful scenery, and charming towns of Zhejiang through ultra-HD presentation. As it caters to international audiences, people around the world will get to know more about the picturesque province and its lovely people.

In term of media coverage, a number of overseas media organizations, including Mandarin TV in France, Propeller TV in the UK, Iberia Universal in Portugal and Dolon TV in Kyrgyzstan sent video messages to express their congratulations and best wishes. Among them, media representatives from the UK, France, Germany, Russia, Austria, Italy, Portugal, Hungary, Kyrgyzstan and the United Arab Emirates signed contracts online for overseas broadcasting of the documentary Embrace Zhejiang. When aired, the series is expected to reach over 100 countries.

Domestic and foreign media representatives as well as foreign friends in Zhejiang participated in the event online and offline.

Editor: Tan Qikuan