The first EU-China High-Level Cultural Forum brought together renowned European and Chinese intellectuals and artists on Oct. 6 in Brussels.

The forum is organized jointly by the European Commission and the Chinese Ministry of Culture as part of the 13th EU-China Summit. It is chaired by Italian author Umberto Eco and Chinese researcher Qiu Xigui. The event's main objective is to strengthen people-to-people exchanges and to foster mutual understanding between the EU and China.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, Chinese Cultural Minister Cai Wu and Androulla Vassiliou, the European Commissioner responsible for education and culture, attended the two-day event.

Barroso said: "I am honoured and very pleased to host the first EU-China High-Level Cultural Forum. This is an initiative I agreed on with Prime Minister Wen at the 2009 EU-China Summit."

He emphasized that building stronger ties between the peoples of the European Union and China will contribute to adding further momentum to our bilateral relationship.

"Intellectuals and artists are essential to foster understanding between cultures and people. No one anywhere in the world can live without ideas," Barroso said.

During the previous EU-China Summit, which took place in Nanjing in November 2009, European and Chinese leaders agreed that the High-Level Cultural Forum would become an annual event, hosted alternately by Europe and China.

The next forum, which will take place in China in the context of the 2011 EU-China Year of Youth, will focus on cultural exchanges and cooperation between cultural institutions, practitioners and industries.

Since 2007, the Commission has invested1.6 million euros through the EU Culture Programme in support of 10 joint initiatives with China. These included the 'Chin-A-moves' project, which brought together young Chinese and European choreographers and supported a European tour by Chinese dance companies. The Culture Program also backed "Common Voices", a collaboration involving the Shanghai Theatre Academy and European Opera institutions.