A three-day Chinese traditional culture and creative exhibition was inaugurated at the Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) on Sunday. Addressing the opening ceremony, National History and Literary Heritage Secretary Aamir Hasan said Pakistan had always considered China as its closest friend and ally that had helped the country on many occasion. “We had the first cultural protocol between the two friendly countries back in 1965, and since then we have taken many more cultural initiatives,” he said. He said an executive four-year cultural programme was initiated in 2018, under which a number of initiatives had taken place. Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Pakistan Yao Jing, National History and Literary Heritage Division Joint Secretary Syed Junaid Akhlaq, Cultural Counsellor of the Embassy of People’s Republic of China and Director of China Cultural Centre Zhang Heqing and PNCA Director General Syed Jamal Shah were also present on the occasion. Speaking on the occasion, Chinese Ambassador Yao Jing said he was pleased to inaugurate the first Chinese culture and creative exhibition. “Both Pakistan and China have a long history of friendship and interactions,” he said, and added that China valued the friendship with Pakistan. He said Pakistan and China had worked together on a number of occasions, and China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) was part of their cooperation. He said high-level exchanges and visits of Pakistani and Chines leaderships “gave us a kind of direction and momentum” for more cooperation. “I can say that in the next stage of the CPEC, our cultural cooperation and people-to-people links will be further enhanced,” he said. “Under the social sector, health, education, poverty alleviation and human resource development were the major areas of the next stage of the CPEC cooperation,” he said, and added that “today event is part of the Belt and Road initiative”. He said Pakistan and China would cooperate for the betterment of not just the two nations but the communities and all other nations of the region and the world. He thanked the Ministry of National History and Literary Heritage and the PNCA for their cooperation in organising the exhibition. PNCA Director General Syed Jamal Shah said that culture was the best possible communication. He congratulated the Embassy of China for organising the exhibition. The students and performing arts group of the PNCA also gave traditional Chinese and Pakistani dance performances on the occasion. The dignitaries also visited the stalls of cultural and creative artwork set up on the occasion.