The US cultural delegates, including Eric Fischl (L 1), Charles "Lil Buck" Riley (L 5) and Damian Woetzel (L 6) and , attends a press conference for the opening of the U.S.-China Forum on the Arts and Culture, kicking off on November 17, 2011. [China.org.cn]

A glittering array of American cultural figures, including Orville Schell, Meryl Streep and David Fanning, have arrived in China to charm locals on the opposite rim of the Pacific Ocean and promote cultural understanding and positive American values.

 

The 16 U.S. cultural delegates, including two Chinese-Americans — author Amy Tan and musician Yo-Yo Ma, will participate in panel discussions with their Chinese counterparts at the US-China Forum on the Arts and Culture, which opened today (November 17). Discussion topics will include cultural differences, film-making challenges and the relationship between culture and commercialism.

The Forum opens right after US president Barack Obama’s speech at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting, in which he stated his desire to enhance the US’ impact on Asia. It also directly follows the sixth plenary of the 17th Central Committee of Communist Party of China (CPC), in which China’s efforts to shape its cultural influence were addressed.

The four-day roundtable dialogue, which will be punctuated with film premieres and concerts, marks the beginning of a series of fresh, long-term bilateral cultural exchanges.

"People will understand a little bit more about American creativity, just one of the strongest parts of our society," said Orville Schell, the Arthur Ross Director of the Center on U.S.-China Relations at the Asia Society in New York. "It is the innovative part that China is really groping towards," he added.

China will in turn send a cultural delegation on a reciprocal visit to the U.S. next year. Details of the visit have yet to be announced.

The four-day cultural exchange was jointly organized by the US-based Asia Society’s Center on U.S.-China Relations and The Aspen Institute’s Arts Program. The Forum is a partnership with the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and the Embassy of the United States in Beijing.

The Asia Society was founded in 1956 by John D. Rockefeller III, grandson of US oil magnate John D. Rockefeller. The Society has expanded from a US-based organization promoting knowledge of Asia to a global institution involving in diversified cross-region programs, including education, Asian Americans, globalization, Asian women, environmental protection and urbanization.