国内英语新闻:China, Germany sign agreement on cultural forum

RIGA, July 14 (Xinhua) -- China and Germany have inked an agreement here on the establishment of a cultural forum, with the aim of strengthening cultural exchanges between the two countries.

The deal was signed Sunday by Xie Yuan, vice chairman of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC), and Gunter Titsch, president of German foundation INTERKULTUR, on the sidelines of World Choir Games 2014 in the Latvian capital.

In a speech at the signing ceremony, Xie said the biennial forum was named after former German President Walter Scheel to not only express Chinese and German people's respect and honor to the politician, but also represent the two countries' hope for a long-lasting friendship.

Under the agreement, the first Walter Scheel Forum will be held in Berlin, Germany, later this year and bring together some 50 representatives from the fields of politics, education, arts and culture.

Both sides also agreed to make the forum an important platform for cultural exchanges between China and Germany.

Scheel, 95, is a good friend of the Chinese people. When serving as Germany's foreign minister and vice chancellor in the early 1970s, he promoted the establishment of diplomatic relations with China.