Cultural officials from African countries spoke highly of
China's national cultural information resources sharing project
after they visited the project headquarters and pilot programs on
Monday.
The cultural information resources sharing project "sets a very
good example", as Zambia is planning to build a similar nationwide
network to provide necessary cultural information and resources to
rural areas, said Musamba Weseley Kaonga, acting director of the
Culture Department of Zambian Community Development and Social
Services Ministry.
Kaonga said the project of China showed an entire structure of
the network, from content to technology, which were very helpful to
Zambia.
The cultural information resources sharing project, jointly
initiated by the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Finance in
2002, digitalizes Chinese cultural resources and has the resources
shared nationwide via Internet, satellite transmission and
discs.
As a member of the 2007 African Cultural Visitors Program,
Kaonga and 16 other cultural officials or managing directors of
cultural institutes from 11 African countries visited the
headquarters of the China project based in the National Library and
a pilot project in the Beilangzhong village in suburban Beijing on
Monday.
Besides Beijing, they will also go to Shenzhen in southern
Guangdong Province and the northwestern province of Gansu to visit
cultural institutes, watch performances, investigate development of
cultural industries and to see how local cultural heritages are
protected. The 2007 program runs from Oct. 12 to 25.
The African Cultural Visitors Program, initially set up by
Ministry of Culture in 2006, is a long-term program on cultural
cooperation and personnel exchange between China and African
countries. It was included in the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation
(FOCAC) Beijing Action Plan (2007-2009).
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(Xinhua News Agency October 16, 2007)