The 3rd China-Central and Eastern European countries (CEEC) Art Cooperation Forum opened in Belgrade on Thursday.

Under the slogan "The Future We Already Live," this online forum offers a platform for artists and experts to discuss ways to improve cultural cooperation, especially in the areas of visual art, film, animation and video games.

The two-day event, co-organized by Serbia's Ministry of Culture and Information and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of China, was opened by the two countries' culture ministers, Maja Gojkovic and Hu Heping.

Hu highlighted the sincere determination of the participants to promote cultural cooperation amid the COVID-19 pandemic and said that the China-CEEC cooperation mechanism is an important platform for enhancing friendship, expanding cooperation and seeking opportunities for common development.

He recalled that over the past nine years, China-CEEC cooperation has expanded significantly to include areas such as culture and tourism, and that the exchanges were especially intensive in literature, music and dance.

"In particular, efforts are being made to build the China-CEEC Art Cooperation Forum, open channels for art exchanges and cooperation, display the latest achievements in art research, and share new and valuable experience in art practice," Hu said.

He said that his ministry is willing to further engage in win-win cooperation with 17 European partners to "lay a solid foundation of public opinion for deepening exchanges and cooperation in other fields and make new and greater contributions to promoting the progress of human civilization and building a community with a shared future for mankind."

Gojkovic stressed that amid the COVID-19 pandemic the countries are increasingly aware of the importance of mutual support, but warned that art and culture in general are the most vulnerable areas, although they are going through a quick digital transformation.

"I am sure that over the next two days the participants in the forum ... will make a significant contribution to the understanding of potentials and development paths in visual arts, film, animation and video games. These areas are going through transformation on a daily basis thanks to rapid technological development."

She said that the key to the realization of projects is in entrepreneurship in culture, innovation while making use of new technologies, as these lead to the establishment of new cultural capital and bring additional value.

"We will continue with our dedicated work within associations and expert networks of the China-CEEC cooperation mechanism ... we support the further development of the mechanism in this field," Gojkovic said.

As an example of Serbia's dedication to the China-CEEC cultural cooperation, she recalled that the Serbian city of Novi Sad will be the European Capital of Culture in 2022 and that the programs will feature numerous artists from the China-CEEC cooperation mechanism. 

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