Several dozen ambassadors posted in Beijing took part in a kick-off program last week promoting the city of Rugao in Jiangsu province as the most recommendable longevity city in China.

Ecuadorian Ambassador to China Leonardo Arizaga noted that his own country also has a community, Vilcabamba, where many people live to be more than 100. But he said Rugao was particularly fascinating because it was a thriving urban area, not a remote village.

Murat Salim Esenli, the Turkish ambassador, read a declaration proposing a world union of cities with a culture of longevity. Si Zhujian, deputy Party secretary of Rugao's CPC and the mayor, described the area's climate and attractions, noting that Rugao not only has more than 250 centenarian residents, it has more than 40,000 inhabitants who are older than 80.

John Xing, secretary-general of the Friendship Communication Organization of Ambassadors and Spouses on Knowing Chinese Culture, invited the ambassadors to join the group for a tour of Rugao in late October.

The Swedish embassy in Beijing and the consulate in Shanghai are inviting Chinese nationals to compete in a photography contest, Swedish inventions through the eyes of Chinese. The competition is part of the exhibition Innovative Sweden, on show at Tsinghua University in Beijing through Sept 26; the deadline for entries at the Chinese-language website Sweden.cn is Oct 3.

Between 30 and 50 finalists will have their photos published in a book on Swedish innovation. The public will be invited to vote for the best picture from the finalists, and prizes include a trip to Sweden for the No 1 photographer, the embassy says on its website.

The winners will be announced at Tongji University when the exhibition moves there for a Nov 2-28 showing, and all of the finalists will be on display.

The embassy of Argentina recently hosted an opening reception for the Argentine Film Festival at the Cervantes Institute in Beijing. Four Argentine films by internationally awarded directors are being screened in rotation through Oct 7. For screening schedule and more information, call 010-5879-9666.

EU and Chinese officials recently announced a joint project to improve safety in coal mining and other high-risk sectors of Chinese industry. Koos Richelle, head of the EU's Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, and Sun Huashan, vice-minister of the Chinese State Administration of Work Safety, met Sept 20 to kick off the campaign. The goal is to achieve standards of work safety and health comparable with those prevailing in the EU, including the ambitious goal of a zero fatality rate. Figures from the Hong Kong-based China Labour Bulletin record a death toll of around 2,000 alone in the mining sector in 2011.

US Ambassador Gary Locke recently credited the East West Center for much of the understanding between the US academic community and scholars, professionals, journalists, and people in business and government from throughout the Asia-Pacific region in China and elsewhere.

He noted that there are more than 4,000 Chinese alumni of the East West Center programs, and they are part of the network of over 60,000 distinguished scholars, leaders, and journalists and other East West Center alumni from 22 countries.

Chinese Consul General for San Francisco Gao Zhansheng was on hand recently when California Governor Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bill 2012, legislation designed to strengthen economic development and international trade in California.

California closed its overseas trade offices worldwide in 2003 in an effort to tackle its budget deficit. The new law re-establishes California's international trade offices in order to drive exports and increase direct foreign investment in the State. The first trade office to be reopened will be in China.

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

(China Daily 09/30/2012 page5)