During summer, Shenyang, capital of Northeast China’s Liaoning Province, embraces bright sunshine and exquisite scenery. From July 14 to 17, Bruno Angelet, the Belgian Ambassador to China, along with his delegation, visited Shenyang to conduct in-depth exchanges on further strengthening multi-field cooperation between Shenyang and Belgium.

In the past few days, Angelet visited Shenyang’s cultural landmarks, such as Shenyang Imperial Palace and 1905 Re-Creative Space, as well as Belgian Bekaert Group Shenyang Advanced Products Co., Ltd. He acclaimed Shenyang as a metropolitan city that features both classical and fashionable attractions, boasting both ancient Chinese royal palaces and modern high-rise buildings. Moreover, Shenyang’s natural environment also left a deep impression on him. “There are many rivers and lakes in the urban expanse of Shenyang, with luxuriant trees and flowers. Citizens walk or dance by the rivers in their leisure time, having happy smiles on their faces. Shenyang is really a city of happiness.” he said.

When visiting Shenyang Imperial Palace, Angelet was highly curious and kept asking a tour guide about the history and architectural characteristics of the palace. He attentively admired the carved beams and painted rafters of the Dazheng Hall, and also tasted the “Ziqi Dong Lai (Purple Air from the East)” cultural creative ice cream produced by the palace. He praised the creativity of Shenyang people, and deemed the cultural creative products of Shenyang Imperial Palace and 1905 Re-Creative Space lifelike, delicate, distinctive and culturally profound, which are effective carriers for spreading traditional Chinese culture.

Belgian King Philippe, former Belgian Prime Minister Leterme and other dignitaries have visited Shenyang before. Shenyang and Belgium have been continuing to carry out comprehensive and pragmatic exchanges and cooperation in the fields of investment, commerce and trade. 1905 Re-Creative Space has been launching Belgian art exhibitions and film screenings for many consecutive years, further promoting cultural and people-to-people exchanges between China and Belgium. Ghent University in Belgium and Liaoning University have established a good cooperative relationship since 2007, and frequently exchanged teachers and students for communication and learning, yielding fruitful results. Ambassador Angelet said that he looked forward to further broadening the scope of cooperation between Belgium and Liaoning in the fields of economy, culture, art, and education in the future.