Scotland hails Chinese links

Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Culture and External Affairs Fiona Hyslop on Thursday hailed cultural exchanges between Scotland and the Chinese side to promote friendship and people-to-people exchanges. Hyslop made the remarks before a panel discussion about plays from China at the Confucius Institute for Scotland in the University of Edinburgh, noting that "cultural exchange is one of the top priorities of the Scottish government's international engagement with China including science and education exchanges". She also stressed the importance of the Memorandum of Understanding on promoting cultural cooperation and exchanges between the Scottish government and the Chinese Ministry of Culture, which was signed in December 2011 when Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond made his official visit to China. Li Ruiyou, Chinese Consul General in Edinburgh, was also present at Thursday's panel discussion.