ADELAIDE — Australia and China vowed to further promote cultural exchanges through comprehensive knowledge sharing, frequent troupe visits and more personnel exchanges and internships, during the inaugural Australia- China Dialogue held at Adelaide Festival Center on Sept 27.

The Dialogue was attended by some of Australia and China’s leading arts administrators as well as officials from Australian Department of Communications and the Arts and Chinese Ministry of Culture.

“The Dialogue will involve key personnel in the arts sector and arts policy makers in each country to grow the exchange of staff and artistic productions and progress the staging of collaborative co-productions,” said Douglas Gautier, the CEO and Artistic Director of Adelaide Festival Centre.

“The Dialogue is driven by the belief that increasing artistic exchanges and building people-to-people relationships will not only enrich our cultural lives but also unlock other social and economic opportunities by building greater understanding and stronger connections between our two countries,” he said.

Under the “Adelaide Consensus” reached during the dialogue, both countries agreed to strengthen cultural diversity through the exchange of ideas, nurtured by constant exchanges and interaction.

It was also agreed that Australia and China will commission an academic research piece on current activity in the cross cultural sphere, including exhibitions, films, arts and cultural festivals, co-productions, tourism, exhibitions, personnel exchanges, cultural and artistic institutions and sister state/province relationships.

Australia and China will seek to develop greater opportunities for staff exchanges and internships and encourage greater use of UNESCO Creative Cities Network for closer collaboration and joint projects.

It is expected that future cultural dialogues between Australia and China will include the protection of cultural heritage and creative industries.

The two countries agreed to hold a second Australia-China Cultural Dialogue in autumn 2017 in Guangzhou, China, and preliminarily agreed to hold them biennially afterward.

China currently holds similar bilateral dialogues with a number of countries including France, Germany and the United States.