2015年CRI 英国举办中国文化节 中国艺术团耀眼（在线收听）

The China Culture Season in the UK has been opened by a number of performances, among which is a Chinese version of Shakespeare's play Richard III, the signature production of the National Theatre of China.

Catherine Mallyon is the Executive Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company in the UK.

"I think it's important that we've got this two-way exchange so that we can take our works to China and we see different Chinese types of theatre, performance, dance all over here in the UK. I think there's something very important about telling each other our stories through the way we do that at home."

At the upcoming Edinburgh Festival, British audiences will be able to see musical performances by prominent Chinese pianist Lang Lang and Wang Yujia.

The Chinese People's Liberation Army Band will also be performing at the Festival in Scotland.

In addition to arts performances, the China Culture Season will also include Chinese designs on display at London Fashion Week.

A Design Forum will also be held at London's Victoria and Albert Museum.

Xiang Xiaowei, cultural counselor with the Chinese embassy in the UK says both sides want to focus on creativity.

"The UK has a mature and strong network to support the development of its creative industry, including their expertise in marketing, their rich stock of talent and their up-to-date technologies. In China, the creative industry is also growing fast and has become one of the driving forces of our economic reforms."

The cultural counselor also says he believes the China-UK Year of Cultural Exchange is a testimony to the thriving relationship between the two countries.

"We will be welcoming a state visit by President Xi Jinping's in October. In September, Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong will be attend the High Level UK-China People to People Dialogue in London. These high level exchanges show that bilateral ties between China and the UK are entering a close and pragmatic phase."

2015 was designated as the China-UK Year of Cultural Exchange in a joint statement by the two governments last year as part of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's visit the UK.

The first half this year was the UK Culture Season in China.

For CRI, I'm Duan Xuelian in London.