The long-standing Oriental civilizations have always been fascinating to many European countries which take in Oriental cultures in their process of development, said European cultural officials in Beijing Thursday.

At the two-day Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Conference on Cultures and Civilizations which opened Wednesday, the European cultural officials showed extreme interest in the cultures of the East.

The time-honored history of the East might trace back much earlier than the West, thus their exchanges would lead to fruitful results, said Portuguese Minister for Culture Pedro Roseta.

China, as one of the countries with an ancient civilization, not only once made the unique contribution of the ancient Silk Road, but is playing an active role in current cultural exchanges in the world, said Roseta.

Gunter Mulack, German ambassador of the federal foreign office, said that the Oriental civilizations have been attractive for German philosophers and thinkers, and the European countries are still drawing on Asia's excellent cultural achievements even today.

The world's cultures are moving toward unity in parallel with information technology, which in turn has led to cultural disputes, said Mulack, adding that the West should increase cultural dialogues with the East so as to remove hostility and estrangement.

The conference held in Beijing will bring us more inspirations, said Mulack.

Italian Ambassador to China Gabriele Menegatti said that Italy is willing to conduct cultural exchanges with China as well as other Asian countries, hoping more Asian youth would understand the differences between Asia and Europe to promote mutual understanding of the two continents.

The European countries should take a farsighted view and positively carry out cultural exchange programs between Asia and Europe, said Finnish Culture Minister Tanja Karpela.
 
(Xinhua News Agency December 5, 2003)