The European Commission announced that Androulla Vassiliou, European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth, would reiterate the importance and benefits of increased cultural cooperation between the European Union and China when she met Ministers and senior officials in Beijing (29 November-1 December).

During her visit, the Commissioner and Chinese Minister of Culture, Cai Wu, will adopt a new joint declaration on EU-China cultural cooperation and take part in the closing ceremony of the 2012 EU-China Year of Intercultural Dialogue. The Commissioner will also attend the launch of the first Online EU Film Festival in China and a conference on multilingualism aimed at promoting the teaching of EU languages in China and Mandarin in Europe.

"The European Union is committed to strengthening its cooperation with China in the areas of culture, education, youth and multilingualism. This year has seen some important milestones in this process with the launch of our High-Level People-to-People Dialogue and the success of the EU-China Year of Intercultural Dialogue. These initiatives are helping to bring our peoples closer together and I look forward to further deepening our ties during this visit," said Commissioner Vassiliou.

See press announcement for more details of the meeting schedule