Ambassador Dlhopolcek with Huawei's Hu Bin at the reception. Mike Peters / China Daily

Rotterdam Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb is leading a business delegation on a six-day visit to Beijing and Shanghai until Sept 11. Rotterdam is a major port, and Aboutaleb's group conferred in the capital with major shippers, freight forwarders and shipping companies as well as officials of the Chinese Ministry of Transport.

Aboutaleb's Sept 10 visit to Shanghai is focused on maritime shipping of the past, present and future. In addition to meeting business delegations, the mayor will explore ancient trade routes and relations at the China Maritime Museum - a key part of historical business relations between Dutch and Chinese companies.

Slovak Ambassador to China Frantisek Dlhopolcek hosted a reception on Sept 5 to celebrate his country's national day. VIP guests included China's Vice-Foreign Minister Xie Hangsheng and a crowd of Beijing-based ambassadors, many just returned from a summer break. Nearly 420 other Chinese guests also attended, including a delegation from the Sino-Czech-Slovak Friendship Farm, graduates from universities in the former Czechoslovakia and Slovak citizens living in China. The embassy served a buffet of traditional Slovak cuisine, wines and the mineral water Sulinka. Guests also enjoyed an exhibition by noted Slovak graphic artist Vladimir Gazovic titled Unleash Your Fantasy, including 44 artworks using mostly the technique of lithography.

Rimantas Zylius, Lithuania's minister of economy is one of many officials who flew to Xiamen last week to visit the China International Fair for Investment and Trade.

Coming right behind him is his boss, Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius, who will be in China from Sept 11-13 to participate in the World Economic Forum (Summer Davos) to be held in Tianjin and meet with China's Primier Wen Jiabao.

The Seattle University men's basketball team wrapped up a two-week tour of China on Sept 4, heading home after playing seven games in Beijing and other three cities. The 12-player Redhawks squad and head coach Cameron Dollar also visited US Ambassador to China Gary Locke.

Finland's new consul general in Shanghai, Marja Aspelund (right), assumed her new post this week.

Aspelund joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1987 and has worked in departments dedicated to politics, external economic relations, development, communications and culture. She has also served as special adviser to the minister for European affairs and foreign trade.

China's consul general in New York, Sun Guoxiang, welcomed Henry Kissinger and other guests to a reception last week commemorating the 40th anniversary of the "ping-pong diplomacy" reciprocal visit to the US by the Chinese national table tennis team.

He also saluted Jan Berris, vice-president of the National Committee on US-China Relations, an organization dedicated to China-US relationship even before the forging of diplomatic ties, the US table tennis players who visited China in 1971, and "all the friends who have played an active part in promoting China-US relationship over the past 40 years".

Soren Jacobsen, minister counselor at the Danish embassy in Beijing, opened a seminar on heating solutions last week in cooperation with Development and Reform Committee of Heilongjiang Province. About 50 representatives from the industry in both countries participated.

Danish Ambassador Friis Arne Petersen hosted a food-safety seminar last week to enhance cooperation between Danish and Chinese authorities on food-safety risk management.

The program was an outgrowth of Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit to Denmark in June, and an agreement was signed between the Chinese General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine and the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration.

The UK's Foreign Office Minister Jeremy Browne met the Hong Kong Secretary for Home Affairs, Tsang Tak-sing, while Tsang was in London last week to lead the Hong Kong delegation to the Paralympic Games. Tsang and Browne discussed strengthening cultural and sporting ties. The two met earlier this year in Asia when Browne met and played table tennis with Hong Kong's Olympic and Paralympic squads.

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

(China Daily 09/09/2012 page5)