China and the Netherlands sign cultural cooperation agreement

The Netherlands Minister of Education, Culture and Science Jet Bussemaker and her Chinese counterpart Ding Wei have signed an agreement in Beijing on cultural cooperation, strengthening existing cooperation and exchanges between Dutch and Chinese artists and cultural organisations.

In a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), China and the Netherlands agree to further encourage cooperation between Dutch and Chinese artists and organizations in all cultural disciplines with three priorities: Creative Industry, Film and Museum management.

The two countries also intend to strengthen their cultural exchange in knowledge and information through visitor programs.

Due to the fast growth in the number of museums in China, cooperation between Chinese and Dutch museum sector is considered as one of the priorities. One part of the agreement clarifies the joint initiative of a training program for Chinese museum managers, curators and collection managers. This is a collaboration between the Van Gogh Museum, Reinwardt Academy and the Committee of Art Museums in China together with Beijing’s Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA). As part of the project, a delegation of Chinese museum leaders will visit Dutch museums and cultural institutions in July 2014.

In addition, the two countries will also work more closely together in the field of creative industries.

Read more about China-Netherlands cooperation on the DutchCulture website