President Xi attends Hong Kong Palace Museum cooperation agreement signing ceremony

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Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday afternoon attended the signing ceremony of a cooperation agreement on the development of the Hong Kong Palace Museum.

The mainland and the Hong Hong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) will carry out cooperation in areas including relic display, personnel training and people-to-people exchange, according to the agreement.

At the end of last year, the Cultural District signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Beijing’s Palace Museum, starting plans to found a version of the museum in Hong Kong.

The collection of artworks at the Palace Museum will be displayed at the Hong Kong Palace Museum to enrich the cultural life of Hong Kong.

Xinhua Photo

Xi showed great interest in the cultural and art development of Hong Kong, and was briefed on the planning of the West Kowloon Cultural District and the site selection and building of the Hong Kong Palace Museum.

The district can not only provide local residents with a convenient cultural and entertainment site, but is also conducive to the cultural and innovative industry development in the HKSAR, Xi said.

The president said he hoped the HKSAR can carry forward the traditional culture, play its role as a platform facilitating the Chinese and Western cultural exchanges, and promote cultural exchange and cooperation with the mainland.

Xinhua Photo

Xi watched some selections of Cantonese opera performed by children. He said that traditional cultural forms including Cantonese opera had new development opportunities after Hong Kong's return to the motherland.

He encouraged performers in Hong Kong and the mainland to carry out more exchanges with and learn from each other.

President Xi arrived in Hong Kong earlier in the day on Thursday to attend events marking the 20th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to China.

He also attended the swearing-in ceremony of Carrie Lam as Chief Executive and the Special Administrative Region's new government.

(With inputs from Xinhua)