DIPLOMATIC POUCH >> WITH MIKE PETERS

The Delegation of the European Union to China and the Hungarian embassy -holders of the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union in the first half of 2011 - in cooperation with the Arts Service Center of the Chinese Ministry of Culture, have announced an Art Competition for Chinese children between 3 and 18 years old.

The event is part of the EU-China Year of Youth in 2011, and winning art will be exhibited at Beijing's Guo Cui Yuan National Treasure Park from June 1-10.

Themes are "Europe in my Heart" for age categories 3-6 and 7-12 (What do you think about Europe? What are your impressions about Europe? What do you like in Europe?) and "The EU as I See It" for students 13-18 (How do you see the European Union? What do you think about the European Union? ). Entries must be submitted by May 1.

More information: www.chinaworldhouse.com

The Danish embassy is finalizing its partnership this month with the Danish company Centre for Recirculation and its Chinese partner Beijing Jingpuyuan Bio-engineering Co Ltd. The two companies have been working on several waste-water treatment projects in several provinces in China.

With the support of Copenhagen's B2B environmental program, which is managed by the embassy in Beijing, the two partners have established a joint venture - Beijing Sen Miao Tian Cheng Environmental Protection Technology Co Ltd. Also the Industrialization Fund for Developing Countries (IFU) has invested in the joint venture.

Ambassador Tomas Anker Christensen, under secretary at the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, visited China last week to meet with Chinese officials and business leaders to promote the initiative Global Green Growth Forum.

The Danish government initiative is designed to bring together international politicians, business leaders, investors, researchers, experts and commentators. To promote the transition to a greener global economy, Denmark plans to host a conference this autumn, for political and private stakeholders on this issue.

Estonia's Ambassador Andres Unga and his wife, Jaanika, will host a ballroom reception at Beijing's Kempinski Hotel Monday night (Feb 28) to celebrate the nation's Independence Day.

The Czech embassy hosted artist Mirek Kaufman for the opening a new exhibition of "Liquid Paintings" at Bloom Gallery in Beijing's 798 Arts District.

Kaufman describes himself as a colorist who seeks to evoke a mystical atmosphere and awaken the viewer's fantasy. The gallery show, which continues until the end of March, picks up on a pre-Christmas exhibition of Kaufman's work at the embassy. Ambassador Libor Secka launched a three-year cultural program last year, titled "Embassy Art", which features both Chinese and Czech artists.

The Austrian embassy announced the opening of the X-ray photography exhibition Black by Dr Werner Schuster last week at Beijing's Three Shadows Photography Art Centre. Most of the digital images were created with a medical mammography unit and a Linhof-Technika 4x5 camera.

Dr Schuster is a physician and radiologist in Neunkirchen and has been a photography enthusiast since the age of 6. In 2002, all of those interests came together when Schuster made his first X-ray art images he began to compile his first portfolio, X-Fruits: Photos Taken Without a Camera.