Diplomatic Pouch | Mike Peters

Danish Ambassador to China Friis Arne Petersen and Minister-Counselor Marie Louise Flach de Neergaard demonstrated last week that Oktoberfest is not just for Germans, as they journeyed to Dali in Yunnan province to help break ground for a new Carlsberg brewery. Also joining the shovel party at the 40-hectare site: Governor He Hua of the Dali Bai autonomous prefecture of Yunnan province; Stephen Maher, CEO of Carlsberg China; and a host of local officials. The new brewery will be operational in 2015.

* * *

The embassy of Argentina teamed up with the Cervantes Institute in Beijing to kick off the Argentina section of the Second Beijing Jewish Film Festival. Prior to the screening of the film Jews in Space, Ambassador Gustavo Martino introduced a brief tango and a wine of honor for the day.

* * *

Chile's Ambassador Luis Schmidt Montes recently opened the ongoing photography exhibition Nada for Chilean photographer Liu Marino at Beijing's Latin American and Caribbean Center in Sanlitun.

* * *

US Ambassador Gary Locke was back in his old stomping grounds earlier this month for the Washington State-China Relations Council's annual banquet. Locke, a two-term governor of the state, joined current Governor Jay Inslee (pictured), renowned China expert Sidney Rittenberg, and more than 350 business leaders and community members at the event. A lifetime achievement award was presented to Rittenberg, who lived and worked in China as a journalist and translator for more than three decades beginning in 1945.

In his keynote speech, Locke urged Washington state to boost its economic ties with China. While the state's exports to China have grown substantially over the past year, reaching $8 billion, it ranks 26th among the 50 states in attracting foreign investment. In November, Inslee will be leading his first trade mission to China.

* * *

The EU delegation to China announced it will launch the Sixth European Union Film Festival on Nov 1 in Beijing, featuring 22 carefully curated films showing for the first time in China on nine big screens in Beijing, Chengdu, and Shenzhen during the month of November. Films will be screened in their original languages - with Chinese and sometimes English subtitles - at commercial cinemas as well as the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, the Polish Cultural Center and the Italian Cultural Institute in Beijing.

* * *

As part of the ongoing Turkish Cultural Year in China, the Turkish embassy is presenting a free concert at the China Conservatory of Music on Oct 25, featuring Chinese guqin player Li Lingling and Turkish kanun player Tahir Aydogdu, oud artist Hakan Emre Ziyagil and singer Hulya Aydogdu. Turkish musicians will give another charity concert Oct 26 for the China Breast Cancer Foundation at the Peninsula Hotel.

* * *

UK Chancellor George Osborne and London Mayor Boris Johnson swept through Beijing last week on separate tours that occasionally overlapped, such as a joint stop at Peking University. Osborne announced a number of measures to simplify the visa-application process for visitors from China and inked more than 50 cooperative deals. Johnson's schedule included promotions for London Luxury Quarter, a swath of high-end shops, galleries, hotels and restaurants near Bond Street that are eager to reach out to wealthy Chinese tourists.

Send embassy news to michaelpeters@chinadaily.com.cn.

(China Daily 10/20/2013 page5)