Foreword
I warmly welcome you to the third edition of the EU-China International Literary Festival, which is being held in Guangzhou and Shenzhen from 19-25 November 2018.
I am particularly proud of the line-up of acclaimed authors from nine European countries: Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. In less than a year we have brought to China writers from all European Union member states.
The strength of our festival – already a well-established feature on EU cultural calendar in China - is its constant quest for mixing together physical human exchanges and inspiring intellectual encounters. We need them more than ever today.
Literature is becoming an ideal starting point for the European authors and their Chinese peers to engage in a series of events and discussions with readers and audiences and learn about each other's vision of the world. In its celebration of the diversity our festival is an indispensable part of the EU-China Year of Tourism and the European Year of Cultural Heritage.
I would like to thank all our partners who made this event happen, particularly the embassies and consulates general of the EU member states, all the outstanding venues in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, and of course the writers from Europe and China who will make this festival a truly unforgettable experience.
Nicolas Chapuis
Ambassador of the European Union to China
