Venezuela painter Samuel Baroni (left) meets autograph seekers in front of his painting The Cow. Provided to China Daily

The Venezuelan embassy's Minister Counselor Gonzalo Vivas recently opened a group show by Venezuelan artists at the National Art Museum of China. The exhibition Vision of Contemporary Venezuela Painting continues through Dec 15, completing an exchange that began last year when a group of Chinese artists presented their works in the Museum of Contemporary Art in Caracas. Master artists Samuel Baroni, Octavio Russo, Pedro Fermin Rivas and Julio Pacheco headline the show, which also includes some of Venezuela's up-and-coming young painters.

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Androulla Vassiliou, European commissioner for education, culture, multilingualism and youth, was in Beijing last week to meet ministers and senior officials, and take part in the closing ceremony of the 2012 EU-China Year of Intercultural Dialogue. Vassiliou and Chinese Minister of Culture Cai Wu adopted a new joint declaration on EU-China cultural cooperation, and the commissioner also attended the launch of the first Online EU Film Festival in China and a conference on multilingualism aimed at promoting the teaching of EU languages in China and Mandarin in Europe. The videos can be seen online in December and January at Letv.com.

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Romania's Ambassador to China Dorum Romulus Costea and his wife, Claudia Ana, hosted a reception for their country's 94th celebration of National Day on Nov 28 at Beijing's Marriot Northeast Hotel. Costea, who assumed his post at the beginning of the year, also recently marked Romanian Army Day.

"Representatives from over 60 Chinese enterprises are visiting Romania these days and two Romanian economic delegations are going to visit Beijing and other parts of China," Costea said in a recent interview with People's Daily, noting that the recent economic and trade cooperation includes major investment projects in renewable energy, electric power and infrastructure."

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After an elegant speech that quoted Henry Kissinger and saluted 40 years of diplomatic relations between his country and China, Luxembourg's Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume raised a glass of champagne to the ballroom crowd at Beijing's Four Seasons Hotel, toasting future ties and the business executives present who are engaged in trade between the two nations. Ambassador Carlo Krieger (pictured) hosted the reception for invited guests and visiting VIPs, which included Hereditary Grand Duchess Stephanie as well as Etienne Schneider, the country's minister of the economy and foreign trade. Schneider is leading a trade mission to China this week.

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Fine Czech art glass made a splash in Beijing last week as the embassy's commercial counselor Petr Vavra helped to launch the Czech Glass Gallery. The new display of art is right at home in the building that has stores selling commercial glassware such as table settings, goblets and vases. Jan Hebnar, a former commercial officer at the embassy who runs the gallery's business development, also represents the high-tech crystal brand Bomma (formerly Bohemian Machine Glass). Special guests at the opening included Sabrina Secka, wife of the Czech ambassador; Radek Stehlik, Czech glass artist; and Guan Donghai, glass artist and professor at Tsinghua University.

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The Norwegian choir Cantus from Trondheim won the award for best female choir during the first Xinghai Prize International Choir Championship in Guangzhou, Norway's embassy in Beijing announced. The choir's Norwegian conductor, Tove Ramlo-Ystad, was impressed by the high level of all participants and members of the jury and declared the 30-voice Cantus performance to be "great art".

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Albania's Ambassador to China Kujtim Xhani hosted a reception at the embassy on Nov 28 to celebrate his country's National Day, commemorating its declaration of independence from the Ottoman Empire on Nov 28, 1912.

Send embassy news to michaelpeters@chinadaily.com.cn.