A new cultural agreement was signed Tuesday by the British Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Maria Miller and Chinese Minister for Culture, Minister Cai Wu.

The agreement signed in Beijing is for a five year programme of cultural exchanges and will give a boost to cultural and creative exchanges between the UK and China.

The agreement will provide an active programme of cultural exchanges in each country including sharing expertise, information and knowledge.

It will also encourage and facilitate arts groups and artists to participate in major arts festivals in each country to strengthen mutual understanding.

"Last year saw the largest ever festival of UK culture in China," said British Culture Secretary Maria Miller. "UK Now took over 700 British artists to audiences in 29 cities across China. In return we have seen some fantastic examples of Chinese culture coming to the UK, from a heavy metal version of Coriolanus at this year's Edinburgh Festival to the current exhibition of Masterpieces of Chinese Painting at the V&A."

" We hope that this agreement will see many more such cultural exchanges flourish between the UK and China," she said. "Through our performing and visual arts, museums, cultural heritage, literature, film and television we will work together, encourage tourism, and reinforce the UK’s reputation as a world leader in the arts and creative industries."

"Cultural relations between the UK and China have never been stronger."British Council CEO Martin Davidson said.

"Following the consecutive hosting of the Olympic Games and the UK Now festival in China last year, the renewal of the Cultural Exchange Agreement, led by the British Council and Ministry of Culture, takes us forward to 2018," he said.

He believed that the greement could provide the framework for even stronger cultural relations between our two countries, both in terms of more people experiencing arts from our respective countries, and working together on cultural infrastructure.