Culture City of East Asia 2019 program concludes in Xi'an

The closing ceremony for the China Xi'an Activity Year of the 2019 Culture City of East Asia program was held in Xi'an, capital of Northwest China's Shaanxi province on Dec 11, attracting government officials, experts and academics, as well as nearly 1,000 citizens.

Xi'an was selected as the 2019 Culture City of East Asia at the China-Japan-South Korea Cultural Ministers' Meeting in Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang province on August 30, 2018, with two other cities: Icheon in South Korea and Toshima-ku in Japan.

Over the past year, Xi'an has continuously deepened its cultural and tourism integration and co-hosted 38 activities with the two cities.

These have covered eight aspects of the Silk Road, traditional customs, literature and art, tourism, music, books, arts and crafts, culture and creativity, film and anime.

In order to better promote China-Japan-Korea international exchanges and cooperation, Xi'an signed memorandum concerning international exchanges and cooperation in cultural tourism with Toshima-ku and Icheon respectively, at the closing ceremony.

Xi'an Mayor Li Mingyuan said his city would continue to enlarge the brand effect of the Culture City of East Asia program, to contribute to promoting cultural prosperity and a shared civilization.

Artists from China, Japan, and South Korea also performed on stage, in a wonderful cultural feast for participants.

The Culture City of East Asia program was first proposed by cultural ministers of the three countries during the third ministerial conference in Nara, Japan, in January 2011.

It aims to promote cultural diversity in East Asia and to allow the three countries to foster mutual understanding and a sense of unity in the region.