Events

Conferences & Meetings \>\> In China

Shanghai Intelligent Building Technology Exhibition, Shanghai

Offers a range of products that include generic cabling, smart home and public facility management systems, safety and access controls, video and audio systems, intelligent sun shading systems and accessories, hotel intelligent systems and electrical engineering products.

Date: Sept 20-22

Venue: Shanghai World Expo Exhibition & Convention Center

Website: www.chinaexhibition.com

China-ASEAN Expo, Nanning

This year's exposition focuses on science and technology cooperation, as well as the promotion of China-ASEAN trade and investment.

Date: Sept 21-25

Venue: Nanning International Convention & Exhibition Center

Website: eng.caexpo.org

Wine & Spirits Festival 2012, Shanghai

Promotes wine culture, provides insight on industry trends and suggests ways for sustainable development.

Date: Sept 26-Oct 2

Venue: Shanghai North Sichuan Road Park

Website: www.chinaexhibition.com

GeoCity Smart City - International Information Design Exhibition, Beijing

Curated by the China Millennium Monument Museum of Digital Arts, the exhibition augments and maps information design and application cases for smart cities initiatives around the world.

Date: Sept 29-Oct 14

Venue: China Millennium Monument Museum of Digital Arts

Website: www.bjdw.org

Interior Lifestyle China 2012, Shanghai

An international trade fair for household products and accessories that provides a platform for creating brand awareness, launching stylish interior designs and expanding market influence.

Date: Oct 10-13

Venue: Shanghai Exhibition Center

Website: www.messefrankfurt.com.hk

Conferences & Meetings \>\> In Europe

InnovaBRICS Conference, London

Provides a platform for leaders from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa to discuss how they can become superpowers over the coming decades.

Date: Sept 5

Venue: The British Academy of Film & Television Arts

Website: www.cbbc.org

Opportunities for Financial and Professional Services in Southwest China: Seminar led by Lord Green, London

Introduces opportunities in Southwest China for the British financial and professional services industries.

Date: Sept 5

Venue: The St. Botolph Building

Website: www.cbbc.org

China's Investments Abroad: Meet Your New Neighbors, Breukelen, the Netherlands

An opportunity to learn from the experience of Chinese companies that play a dominant role in energy, minerals, telecommunications, and other utilities industries.

Date: Sept 11

Venue: Nyenrode Business Universiteit

Website: www.china-blog.eu

Helping Northamptonshire's High Performance Tech companies explore the China market, Cosworth, Northampton, UK

Gives an insight into the high performance technologies market in China, looking at how companies take the first step, through developing existing links.

Date: Sept 20

Venue: To be decided

Website: www.cbbc.org

Culture \>\> In China

Sarah Connor Live in China, Beijing

The German pop singer and multi-instrumentalist performs in China as part of her new 2012 world tour.

Dates: Sept 19

Venue: Workers Gymnasium

Website: www.theatrebeijing.com

Violin Virtuoso Salvatore Accardo Recital, Beijing

Considered one of the greatest violin talents of the Italian school of the 20th century, Salvatore Accardo is noted for his interpretations of Paganini, J.S. Bach, Antonio Vivaldi, contemporary works, chamber music and opera conducting.

Date: Sept 23

Venue: Beijing Concert Hall

Website: www.theatrebeijing.com

Dancing Show: The Thousand-hand Bodhisattva, Beijing

Twenty-one hearing-impaired dancers recreate the image of the thousand-hand bodhisattva, a traditional Chinese goddess.

Dates: Sept 29 -Oct 2

Venue: Beijing Exhibition Theater

Website: www.theatrebeijing.com

Piazzolla Forever - Richard Galliano Septet, Beijing

The French accordionist Richard Galliano and his composer Astor Piazzolla ensemble, who are on a world tour to commemorate Piazzolla, stage their first performance in China.

Dates: Oct 3

Venue: Forbidden City Concert Hall

Website: www.theatrebeijing.com

Culture \>\> In Europe

Patterns and Graphics for Fashion, Manchester

Art from Lydia Meiying, an illustrator and pattern designer, focusing on creating bright and bold designs using a mixture of hand-drawn and 3D computer design elements.

Date: On display

Venue: Chinese Arts Center

Website: www.chinese-arts-centre.org

Port of Antwerp Drakenboot Festival, Antwerp, Belgium

The second Port of Antwerp Drakenboot Festival will conduct dragon boat races for companies, associations, neighborhoods and anyone else who wants to take part. Competing teams need to row their boats to the rhythm of pounding drums.

Date: Sept 8

Venue: Kattendijkdok

Website: www.drakenbootfestival.nl/subsite/antwerpen

Events can be sent to: events@mail.chinadailyuk.com

Diplomatic pouch >> With Mike Peters

Germany's Ambassador to China Michael Schaefer said last week that German as a foreign language is and will remain a central theme of foreign cultural and educational policy.

Speaking at a five-day Asian-German studies meeting in Beijing, he told participating Germanists, university teachers, interpreters and translators from China, Japan, South Korea and Germany that spreading the German language figuratively extended Germany's borders.

The export of cars and machinery from Germany throughout the world is accompanied by the export of education. Nowhere is this seen more clearly than in China. Today German companies and universities with their own educational and study opportunities in China are widely represented, he said.

"As examples I will mention only the Sino-German University in Shanghai, the German-Chinese cooperation in the field of dual vocational training, and the 28,000 Chinese students of German at the 30 Chinese universities."

Una O'Brien, permanent secretary at the British Department of Health, visited Chinese healthcare academics and professionals last week and attended the China Health Forum in Beijing.

O'Brien's trip included a roundtable discussion on Britain and China's healthcare reforms with Chinese academics and a dinner hosted by Andrew Key, charge d'affaires, with business people from the sector.

In her speech at the China Health Forum, O'Brien spoke about the national health service (NHS), looking at current reforms and including examples of how the NHS is adapting to meet the needs and expectations of the British population. "With the world's largest integrated health system, I believe that Britain is a natural partner for China as you reform your health system," she said.

The forum was jointly hosted by China's Ministry of Health, the State Food and Drug Administration and the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine. It looked at shared healthcare challenges, including those faced by China and Britain, and at future collaborations aimed at finding practical solutions.

O'Brien also visited several health facilities in Beijing, including an elderly care home and a primary care center.

The Spanish embassy and a Mexican restaurant in Beijing sponsored a reception on Thursday for the opening night of a documentary film festival at the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art.

The evening featured the Spanish documentary A story for the Modlins by Sergio Oksman and the Mexican documentary Silvestre Pantaleon by Roberto Olivares. Both directors were present to take part in a question-and-answer session with the audience.

The embassy of Sweden has contracted an application center for Schengen visas at the Shimao International Center in Beijing.

The outsourcing is designed to give applicants better service and a more convenient application procedure, since the new center will have considerably longer hours of service and the embassy says applications will be handled more quickly and efficiently.

While the application procedure is outsourced, the embassy says it still decides on all applications.

Send embassy and consulate news to michaelpeters@chinadaily.com.cn.

China Daily

(China Daily 08/24/2012 page37)