China Culture Festival opened on September 29th at the Art Museum of Kopavogur, attended by over 600 people. The Festival was inaugurated jointly by H.E. Mr. Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, President of Iceland, Ms. Lei Yunxia, Charge d'Affaires of the Embassy of China in Iceland, Mr. Gunnar Ingi Birgisson, Mayor of Kopavogur and Mr. Miao Wei, Head of the Chinese cultural and art delegation and Chairman of the Municipal People's Congress of Wuhan, China.

As below is the text of the speech by Ms. Lei Yunxia:

Your Excellency Mr. Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, President of Iceland, and the First Lady

Honorable Mr. Gunnar Ingi Birgisson, Mayor of Kopavogur

Honorable Mr. Miao Wei, Senior Advisor to the Municipality of Wuhan, China

Ladies and Gentlemen,

First of all, on behalf of the Government of China and in my own name, I would like to extend sincere congratulations to the opening of the China Culture Festival. The idea of holding a China culture festival was raised up by the Municipality of Kopavogur last year and has finally come true after a yearlong preparation. Please accept my heartfelt thanks to the Municipality of Kopavogur, and Mr. Birgisson in particular, for what he has been doing for the Festival.

Exchanges between different cultures are an important way to enhance the cultural creativity. By introducing the Chinese cultural heritage to the Icelandic people, such as traditional music, paintings, acrobatics, folk arts, photography, etc., the China Culture Festival will demonstrate the long-standing charm as well as the contemporary creativity of the Chinese culture and art, and will undoubtedly provide Icelanders a good opportunity to know more about China.

I would also like to congratulate Wuhan and Kopavogur for establishing Friendship City Relationship between the two cities. I am looking forward to seeing more exchanges and cooperation between the two cities in the nearest future.

Bilateral relations between China and Iceland have been developing with an unprecedented good trend in recent years. With more people to people exchanges, China is no longer a distant and mysterious nation to many people in Iceland. This Festival, I believe, will become another bridge for better understanding and friendship between the two peoples and will further promote the Chinese-Icelandic relationship to a new height.

Thank you.