Young professionals from China’s creative industries visited the UK as part of a youth exchange initiative between the two countries.

During the visit they attended an event at the FCO hosted by Minister for the Creative Industries, Sion Simon, with members of the UK creative industries.

This was an excellent opportunity for the two countries to identify new ideas and opportunities for UK-China collaboration.

The event is part of a youth exchange initiative first announced in February 2008 by the Foreign Secretary and Chinese Foreign Minister Yang and builds on 10 years of co-operation between the All China Youth Federation (ACYF) and the British Council. The ACYF is the largest youth organisation in China with over 300 million active members.

The Chinese delegation was led by Mr Lu Yongzheng, Vice President of the ACYF.

Delegates who attended spoke of the importance of these cultural exchanges. Mr Song Bo, who attended from Shanghai said ‘there are no boundaries between countries when it comes to creativity’.