The "2002 China Tibetan Culture Week" will be held in Belgium from September 7 to 27.

And citizens of Canada will also savor the color and richness of Tibetan heritage during the same period, the Information Office of the State Council announced yesterday.

This is the first time for China to feature Tibet in large-scale cultural exchange activities in Europe and North America.

Premier Zhu Rongji has extended his congratulations in a letter, calling the culture week a significant event for fostering cultural exchange between China, Belgium and Canada.

This would surely promote friendship between the Chinese and the Belgian and Canadian peoples, he said.

Vice-President of Belgium's Chamber of Representatives Robert Denis, Vice-President of the European Parliament Joan Colom I Naval, Canadian Governor-General Adrienne Clarkson and Prime Minister Jean Chretien have also sent congratulatory messages.

The rich traditional culture of the Chinese Tibetan people is a bright pearl of the treasure-house of Chinese culture and world culture with unique charm and splendid style, the congratulatory letter says.

It says the China Tibetan Culture Week is designed to vividly tell stories about Tibet to the Belgian and Canadian peoples and display the culture of a Chinese ethnic group which is full of vitality and making progress.

The holding of the China Tibetan Culture Week is a great event in the cultural exchanges between China and Belgium and between China and Canada.

It will help the Belgian and Canadian peoples to better understand the Tibet Autonomous Region and further promote the friendship between the Chinese people and the peoples of Belgium and Canada, the letter states.

The culture week will present the real Tibet to Belgian and Canadian audiences through various cultural activities, said an official with the Information Office of the State Council.

(Xinhua News Agency September 3, 2002)