The Federal Government has identified culture and tourism as new frontiers for deepening Nigeria-China relations, with emphasis on cultural diplomacy, creative industries, tourism development and people-to-individuals exchanges.
She urged artists, cultural institutions, tourism professionals, museums, cultural centres, performing arts organisations and creative entrepreneurs from both countries to develop partnerships.
He described the event as more than a cultural execution, saying it was a celebration of Nigeria-China friendship, cultural diversity, mutual respect and individuals-to-people exchange.
He said Nigeria’s engagement together with China in the cultural sector should extend beyond artistic exchanges to include inventive collaboration, tourism opportunities, skills development and greater participation of young Nigerians in the worldwide creative economy.
Yang said the programme was notably remarkable as 2026 marked the 55th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Nigeria and China and the China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges.
He said Nigeria’s cultural diversity, reflected in its music, dance, theatre, visual arts, festivals, crafts, fashion, film, literature and modern creative industries, provided a strong base for sustained assistance with China.
She called for the establishment of long-term institutional partnerships rather than limiting cultural cooperation to one-day celebrations.
Also speaking, the Permanent Secretary, Social Development Secretariat of the FCT Administration, Olubunmi Olowokere, said Abuja offered significant opportunities for collaboration with Hunan in cultural exchange, creative industries, heritage promotion, tourism development, skills development and preservation of conventional arts.
Alhamdu urged both countries to broaden exchanges in the midst of artists, cultural institutions, museums, theatres, innovative entrepreneurs, young people and tourism stakeholders.
Yang said the Mid-Autumn Festival, which centres on the full moon, represented values of family reunion, harmony, peace and the shared aspiration for a better life.
“Culture has a unique ability to bring people together. It translates language, geography and differences, allowing us to discover what we communicate as people beings,” Alhamdu said.
A song, a dance or a sincere gathering can cross mountains and oceans and touch people’s hearts,” he said.
“Culture and art know no borders.
Olowokere additionally encouraged Chinese visitors to research Abuja and Nigeria’s tourism attractions, while urging Nigerians to discover the cultural and tourism opportunities in Hunan and other parts of China.
“For us at the Federal Ministry of Arts, Culture, Tourism and Creative Economy, cultural diplomacy is an important instrument for strengthening worldwide relations, promoting tourism and creating opportunities for our creative practitioners,” he said.
Representing the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Arts, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy, Abdulkarim Ozi Ibrahim, Musa Alhamdu said cultural exchange could strengthen bilateral relations while creating opportunities for tourism, skills development and the creative economy.
According to him, cultural diplomacy is an vital instrument for strengthening international relations, promoting tourism and creating opportunities for imaginative practitioners.
Olowokere said culture often provided the opening avenue by way of which individuals from separate countries encountered and understood one another.
He said Hunan had three World Heritage sites and nine elements inscribed on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
“So when a Nigerian watches a Chinese cultural performance, or when a visitor from China experiences Nigerian music and conventional arts, something vital happens. And that experience creates understanding,” she said.
We advance from simply knowing each other to experiencing each other.
The government made its role known at the “Shared Moon, Shared Moment, Encounter in Africa — Hunan Culture and Tourism in Nigeria” event in Abuja, where a delegation from China’s Hunan Province showcased its cultural heritage via music, dance, acrobatics and other customary art forms.
He said such partnerships would help transform cultural exchanges into durable relationships competent of contributing to economic and social development.
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He said the Hunan delegation brought songs, dances, acrobatics and other performances to Abuja, during the time that Nigerian cultural presentations were also featured to sell mutual appreciation.
Earlier, the Cultural Counsellor of the Chinese Embassy and Administrator of the China Cultural Centre in Nigeria, Yang Jianxing, said cultural and artistic exchanges could strengthen mutual understanding and friendship betwixt Nigeria and China.
Yang noted that Changsha, the provincial investment, had served as the permanent host city of the China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo because 2019, adding that Hunan and Nigeria had developed ties in trade, investment, culture and people-to-people exchanges.
He expressed hope that the cultural engagement would guide to stronger ties between Hunan and Nigeria, particularly betwixt Hunan and Abuja, while encouraging more Nigerians to attend the province and experience its cultural heritage and tourism attractions.
Source: FG pushes culture, tourism as new frontiers of Nigeria-China ties
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[…] FG pushes culture, tourism as new frontiers of Nigeria-China ties […]
[…] FG pushes culture, tourism as new frontiers of Nigeria-China ties […]