1. On January 6, Liu Deyou, Executive Vice Chairman of China International Culture Association (CICA) met with a 10-member Japanese national Sino-Japanese Friendship delegation. Both parties reviewed the history of friendly exchanges between China and Japan. The Japanese guests expressed that they would respect the history and oppose war; and they stand ready to enhance the understanding between the Chinese and Japanese peoples, strengthen cultural exchanges and work for the long-term friendship between China and Japan.

2. From February 18 to 21, in celebration of the return of Macau to the motherland, CICA held a large calligraphy and painting exhibition of Millennium Pride in Macao jointly with China Association for Promoting Cultural Exchanges among the Aged. The 9-member delegation from CICA headed by Lv Zhixian, Vice Chairman of CICA visited Macau to attend the opening ceremony among other activities. Officials of Macau Special Administrative Region and relevant personalities in the local cultural and art circles attended the opening ceremony on February 18.

3. From March 1 to 10, CICA hosted the Exhibition of Portuguese Painter Julio Bomar’s Works at National Art Museum of China in Beijing. Lv Zhixian, Vice Chairman of CICA, Tian Dan, Deputy Director-General of Bureau for External Cultural Relations and Vice Secretary-General of CICA, Pedro Catarino, Portuguese ambassador to China, Linda, Cultural Counselor and representatives of Oriental Foundation in Beijing attended the opening ceremony on March 1.

4. The year 2000 has special significance for both China and Portugal. It is not only the symbol of the beginning of the new century, but also the first year after the return of Macau to the motherland. It is of great significance in strengthening people-to-people exchanges between China and Portugal and friendship between the Chinese and Portuguese peoples after the return of Macau. The 6-member delegation of Portugal's Orient Foundation headed by Meng Zhihao, Chairman of the foundation paid a visit to China from March 22 to 29 at the invitation of CICA, and toured Beijing, Shanghai, Shanxi and other places. During the visit, the parties conducted working talks, briefed each other about their respective developments and discussed future cooperation projects between the two sides.

5. On April 17, “Swiss Vineyards Dream Concert” performed by 95 musicians from Switzerland was held at the Forbidden City Concert Hall, Beijing under the auspices of CICA.

6. Liu Deyou, Executive Vice Chairman of CICA met with a 4-member delegation headed by Rosa, Chairman of 21st Technological and Cultural Exchange Association, Pidou, Principal of International Art Consulting Firm on April 20 at Ministry of Culture. The Swiss guests expressed their appreciation to the efforts made by CICA to promote the people-to-people cultural exchanges between China and Switzerland. Both parties exchanged opinions on the tentative ideas of carrying out exchanges in the future and discussed issues related to the cooperative performance of the opera Madame Butterfly.

7. From April 22 to May 5, a 22-member delegation of Austrian Stella Brass Band visited China at the invitation of CICA, and presented performances in Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Suzhou, Beijing and other places. The members in the band are music teachers with many artistic attainments. Their distinctive performance was warmly received by the Chinese audience. The band participated in “Meet in Beijing Arts Festival 2000 ” hosted by Ministry of Culture during their stay in Beijing, and performed at Xidan Cultural Square and Beijing Theatre respectively on May 1 and 3.

8. From May 1 to 5, a 22-member delegation of Austrian Stellar Brass Band participated in "Meet in Beijing Arts Festival 2000" after attending the concerts held by CICA in Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Suzhou and other places. Liu Deyou, Executive Vice Chairman of CICA met with and hosted a banquet for the representatives of the band at Oriental Garden Hotelon May 1. Wu Haoran, Austrian ambassador to China attended the meeting. Liu Deyou attended a reciprocal banquet at the invitation of the Austrian Embassy in China on May 2.

9. From May 1 to 5, CICA received a 4-member Bonn Cultural Delegation headed by mayor of Bonn, Germany. During their visit in Beijing, Liu Deyou, Executive Vice Chairman of CICA and Dong Junxin, Vice Secretary-General of CICA met with and hosted a banquet for the delegation. Both parties exchanged opinions on the tentative ideas of carrying out cultural exchanges between CICA and North Rhine-Westphalia as well as Bonn in Germany.

10. From May 5 to 10, CICA received a 2-member delegation of Swedish musicians. The Swedish guests visited Central Conservatory of Music, Beijing Opera Arts College and other places during their stay in Beijing.

11. In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Sweden, CICA held the “Concert in Celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between China and Sweden” at Diaoyutai State Guesthouse on May 9. The Swedish musicians and Chinese bands performed on the same stage. Vice Premier Wu Bangguo and Lena Hjelm-Wallen, Vice Prime Minister of Sweden were present at the concert.

12. On May 13 and 14, “The Heneiken Beat Summer Festival, Beijing”jointly hosted by CICA and Beijing YiRen Culture and Art Exchange Center was held at Beijing Ritan Park. 90 musicians in 7 bands from Belgium, the United Kingdom, the United States, Cuba, the Netherlands, Nigeria and other countries participated in the performance. Nearly ten thousand audiences were present at the festival.

13. To enhance the friendship and understanding between children in China and Austria, on the eve of International Children's Day, CICA presented 30 children’s calligraphy and paintings to the Children’s Village in Bregenz, the capital of Vorarlberg, Austria in support of the Sino-Austria Children’s Art Exhibition to be held by Bregenz Children’s Village.

14. From June 10 to 24, an 8-member folk music group from Central Conservatory of Music attended the 8th “China Music Evening” concert under the arrangement of CICA.

15. From June 10 to 24, CICA selected and sent an 8-member folk music group from Central Conservatory of Music for the 8th “China Music Evening” concert at the invitation of Fukuoka Corporate Scheme Corporation in Japan. The group also presented special performance for the disabled and the elderly people in addition to the performance at theatres in Japan. The superb performance by the musicians was warmly welcomed by the audience. The Japanese news media covered the events.

16. The Japanese government made a decision to award the Second Order of the Rising Sun conferred by the Emperor of Japan to Liu Deyou, Executive Vice Chairman of CICA in recognition of his long-term outstanding contribution for strengthening the cultural exchanges between China and Japan. The grand ceremony was held at the Japanese Embassy’s residence in China on the afternoon of June 23. Tanino Sakutaro, Japanese ambassador to China awarded the order to Liu Deyou on behalf the Japanese government and delivered a warm speech. He highly commended Liu Deyou’s contribution in promoting the friendship and cultural exchanges between China and Japan, popularizing the Japanese language and pushing forward the research of Japanese studies in the past 50 years. The choir from China National Orchestra performed Chinese Haiku created by Liu Deyou at the ceremony, which pushed the atmosphere of the activity to a new high. Meng Xiaosi, Vice Minister of Culture, Lv Zhixian, Vice Chairman of CICA, Dong Junxin, Deputy Director-General of Bureau for External Cultural Relations and Vice Secretary-General of CICA, friendly personages in the cultural and art circles in China and Japan as well as some foreign diplomats attended the ceremony.

17. On July 24, Liu Deyou, Executive Vice Chairman of CICA met with a 30-member delegation of M. Yoshida Oil Painting Exhibition from Japan at Ministry of Culture. The delegation visited China for the holding of an oil painting exhibition. Liu Deyou expressed his appreciation for the efforts made by the delegation for the promotion of cultural exchanges between China and Japan, and expressed his sincere gratitude for Yoshida’s presentation of large oil paintings to National Art Museum of China.

18. On July 26, Liu Deyou, Executive Vice Chairman of CICA met with Koji Takayuki, Secretary-General of Institute for International Business Communication in Japan at Ministry of Culture. Both parties exchanged opinions on holding Recitation and Appreciation of Japanese Tanka and Chinese Poetry by the Japanese party in autumn.

19. On July 28, Liu Deyou, Executive Vice Chairman of CICA and Dong Junxin, Vice Secretary-General of CICA met with a 4-member delegation including Ersek Tobor, Executive Vice Chairman of Culture from Hungary-China Economic and Cultural Exchanges Development Association (PRO CHINA), Drabik Janos, Vice General Manager of Culture and Economy of CICA. Both parties talked about the history of friendly relations between China and Hungary, and discussed the potential future cooperation between the two associations.

20. On August 4, Liu Deyou, Executive Vice Chairman of CICA and Pu Tong, Assistant Director-General of Bureau for External Cultural Relations met with the 9-member delegation from Malaysian Chinese Culture Association headed by Dai Xiaohua, the new Chairman of the Association. Both parties reviewed the long-term friendly exchanges between the two associations and talked about the future cooperation prospects in a friendly atmosphere. Liu Deyou highly commended the efforts made by the Malaysian Chinese Culture Association for the cultural exchanges between China and Malaysia in the conversation, and said that CICA would learn from Malaysian Chinese Culture Association to initiate more people-to-people and cultural exchange activities which would benefit and promote the friendship between the Chinese and Malaysian peoples. Dai Xiaohua expressed her appreciation for Liu Deyou’s reception and said that the new leading group of Malaysian Chinese Culture Association would continue to maintain friendly cooperative relations with CICA and make more efforts to further promote the people-to-people and cultural exchanges between China and Malaysia.

21. In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Demark, CICA held the tour photo exhibition of Danish musician Carl Nielsen in 14 cities in China from September, 2000 to September, 2001.

22. In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Sweden, CICA held Passion 2000 – Swedish Pop Music Concert at Beijing Workers’ Gymnasium Stadium on September 16. The wonderful performance by Robert Wells, the top-level musician in the world’s pop music circle, Arrival Band, successors of the famous ABBA singing group, famous pop music conductor Anders Berglund, Sofia Lindgren, the female singer known as “Golden Fox in Nordic Region” and other Swedish musician won the warm applauses from the audience. As the largest performance of Western popular music in Beijing this year, the concert has played an important role in enhancing the understanding and friendship between the Chinese and Swedish peoples and promoting the Chinese popular music to the world. Dong Junxin, Deputy Director-General of Bureau for External Cultural Relations and Vice Secretary-General of CICA, and Kjell Anneling, Swedish Ambassador to China were present at the concert.

23. On September 21, Liu Deyou, Executive Vice Chairman of CICA and Tian Dan, Deputy Director-General of Bureau for External Cultural Relations and Vice Secretary-General of CICA met with and hosted a banquet for the 13-member delegation of Earth Ethics Forest from Japanese Rinri Institute of Ethics. Liu Deyou expressed his appreciation for the contributions made by the Japanese guests in the development of Western China and desert control in his speech.

24. On September 25, Dong Junxin, Deputy Director-General of Bureau for External Cultural Relations and Vice Secretary-General of CICA met with and hosted a banquet for Jan Kolkman, Chairman of Netherlands-China Friendship Association and his wife. Both parties reviewed the friendly cooperation between the two associations in the past few years and exchanged opinions on further strengthening the cooperation between the two parties, expanding cooperation areas and discussed issues related to the art delegation to be sent to the Netherlands in 2002.

25. On September 30, CICA held China-ROK Flower Arrangement Art Exhibition at Beijing Jianguo Garden Hotel jointly with China Association of Flower Arrangement Art, Beijing Flower Association and China Women Activity Center. 20 flower arrangement artists from World Huayi Writers Friendship Association of ROK and 30 Chinese artists in the flower arrangement circle demonstrated their skills and presented over 50 flower arrangement works to the visiting flower arrangement lovers. Their performance was well received and praised by experts and visitors. Dong Junxin, Deputy Director-General of Bureau for External Cultural Relations and Vice Secretary-General of CICA, Shan Zhaoxiang, former Vice Mayor of Beijing, Deputy Director-General of Beijing Capital Greening Commission and Vice Chairman of China Association of Flower Arrangement Art, and wife of the Ambassador to China from ROK attended the opening ceremony.

26. On October 19, New Japanese Minister in China visited CICA. Liu Deyou, Executive Vice Chairman of CICA and Dong Junxin, Deputy Director-General of Bureau for External Cultural Relations and Vice Secretary-General of CICA met with and hosted a banquet for the minister at Ministry of Culture. Liu Deyou expressed his warm welcome to the minister’s visit to CICA immediately after taking the post and introduced CICA to the Japanese guests. Both parties discussed a series of activities to be held in 2002 in celebration of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of Sino-Japanese diplomatic relations and issues related to the future exchanges and cooperation.

27. The 5-member delegation of Japanese folk music performers visited China at the invitation of CICA and held a Yanai Mikana Koto Concert at the concert hall of China National Orchestra on October 14. Yanai Mikana performed Typhoon in Sky, The Requiem and other 5 chapters. Her superb skills won warm applauses from the audience in Beijing.

28. From November 5 to 7, Li Xuehui, Director of International Liaison Department of CICA and Professor Yang Ming from Piano Department of Central Conservatory of Music visited the Republic of Korea to attend the 12th Japanese International Matsuzaka Exchange Concert.

29. From November 7 to 14, a 5-member delegation from Swedish Society visited China, and toured Beijing, Shanghai, Shaanxi and other places.

30. From November 16, 2000 to January 3, 2001, a 9-preson delegation from Shanghai Circus School attended the Christmas show in Switzerland under the arrangement of CICA.

31. From November 16, 2000 to January 15, 2001, a 2-member delegation from Flag Acrobatic Troupe attended the acrobatics performance in Freiburg, Germany under the arrangement of CICA.

32. In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Switzerland, CICA held China-Switzerland musician exchange concerts in Beijing and Shanghai from November 26 to December 14. On the occasion, Yang Jing, famous lute player in China and Fan Ou, famous percussionist performed on the same stage.

33. From December 7 to 17, a solo concert by Song Fei, famous Erhu player from China Conservatory of Music, was held in the United States under the arrangement of CICA.

34. From December 7 to 14, a 6-member delegation from Hungary-China Friendship Association visited China at the invitation of CICA.

35. From December 18, 2000 to January 8, 2001, an 11-member art group from Flag Acrobatic Troupe attended the Christmas acrobatics show in Germany under the arrangement of CICA.

36. On December 20, a 4-member delegation of Southeast Asian Culture and Friendship Association, the Japanese incorporated foundation paid a visit to CICA.

37. On December 22, in support the underdeveloped mountainous areas and children longing for knowledge, CICA purchased a batch of books appropriate for the reading of teenagers through fund-raising, sent the books to Loufan County, Shanxi province, as part of the poverty-alleviation efforts of Ministry of Culture, and established reading rooms for the schools there. Liu Deyou, Executive Vice Chairman of CICA wrote “Ruoya Reading Room” on the inscribed boards respectively for the two reading rooms. Lv Zhixian, Vice Chairman of CICA and officials from Ministry of Culture donated books for the reading rooms.