The 2012 Poland China Tibetan Culture Week opened here in Warsaw on Monday, aiming to give the Poles a glimpse of Tibet and its traditional culture.

At the opening ceremony held at the Palace of Culture and Science in the heart of Warsaw, Cui Yuying, deputy director of the Information Office of China's State Council, said both China and Poland have rich history and culture and that cultural exchanges play a significant role in deepening bilateral ties.

Cui, who heads a delegation of Tibetologists and artists to the culture week, said the event would showcase the economic, political, cultural and social achievements Tibet had made over the past decades, and would serve as a platform through which the Polish people can take a closer look at Tibet and get to know the region and its traditional culture better.

Wieslaw Klimczak, chairman of the Dom Polski Association, said the event would deepen the Polish people's understanding of Tibet's history and present.

The culture week, the first of its kind held in Poland, is co-sponsored by China's State Council Information Office, the People's Government of Tibet Autonomous Region, the Chinese embassy in Poland and the Dom Polski Association.

The event also features an exhibition of more than 200 photos taken by Chinese and foreign photographers and 46 Tibetan Thangka paintings, a folk song and dance performance, in addition to a series of seminars and discussions between Tibetologists and the locals.

In a letter addressed to the 2012 Poland China Tibetan Culture Week, Jia Qinglin, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, called the event a key part of the cultural exchanges between China and Poland.

His words were echoed by Chinese Ambassador to Poland Xu Jian, who said that growing cultural links between China and Poland will draw the two countries closer to each other.