Britain's 48 Group Club announces to launch China Now festival

LONDON, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Britain's 48 Group Club, the "Icebreakers" for Sino-UK relations, on Monday announced to launch China Now festival, the largest ever business-led initiative to boost understanding of Chinese culture in Britain.

"Inspired by the series of events in China Now festival, the Chinese Year of the Rat will see an unprecedented advance in the exchanges and understanding between China and Britain," said Stehpen Perry, Chairman of the 48 Group Club, at a dinner hosting over 1,000 guests for the upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year which falls on Feb. 7.

"Such is the pace of change in China, it comes as no surprise that the vast majority of the British public have not kept up with this transformation," he said.

"Therefore, it is vital that the business community takes a leading role in building greater awareness of China. So the 48 Group Club is especially proud to host this dinner to launch China Now," he added.

He predicted that 2008 will be a catch up year about China for the British people led by two major events -- the Beijing Olympics in August and China Now that reaching the whole of Britain.

Stephen Green, Group Chairman of HSBC Holdings and Chairman of China Now, said that "tonight is much more than a celebration of the Chinese New Year. In 2008, through China Now, the business community is taking key steps to advance the understanding between British and Chinese people."

The 48 Group Club announced to elect Green as fellow of the club and presented him the accolade of "2008 -- Icebreaker of the Year" for his remarkable contributions to China Now and Sino-UK relations.

"From tonight until the start of the Beijing Olympics, we will experience the largest festival of Chinese culture ever to take place in Britain," he said.

Starting with the Chinese New Year celebrations, the nationwide festival will last six months and will be staged across Britain in cities including Newcastle, Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol, Brighton, Bath and London.

The festival's program features a wide range of cultural projects and performances encompassing art, design, cuisine, culture, science, business, technology, education and sports.

At the dinner, Lord Digby Jones, Minister of State for Trade and Investment, expressed his confidence in and expectations for UK-China relations in the next decade.

"In the coming decade it is vital that we excite, inform, and prepare our young people for the extraordinary opportunities China offer," he said, "But to grasp those opportunities our young people will need to gain a deep grasp of Chinese culture and through that learn how to offer added value skills that China will want to absorb and use."

The 48 Group Club is an independent business network committed to promoting positive relations with China. The origin of the Club stems from early 1950s, when a group of far-sighted British business leaders in an "icebreaking" mission into China established mutually beneficial trade relations only a few years after the birth of the People's Republic of China.