On Aug. 15, 2018, Mr. Zheng Xiyuan, Consul General of the Consulate General of the People's Republic of China in Manchester, was invited to visit Chetham's School of Music in Manchester. Accompanied by Mr. Alun Jones, Head of the school, and Mr. Shen Rui, Executive Director of Manchester China Forum, Consul General Zheng visited the School and discussed how to strengthen educational and cultural exchanges between China and the UK.
Consul General Zheng said that music could enable people from different countries to better communicate their feelings and experiences. Chetham's School of Music has a long history and the most comprehensive music facilities among all the British private schools. Zheng hoped that the School could strengthen its exchange and cooperation with Chinese schools, its artistic exchange with Chinese students and overseas Chinese in Manchester, and to make a greater contribution towards the promotion of cultural exchanges between China and the UK.
Mr. Jones said that Chetham has attached great importance to carrying out multi-level co-operation and exchange with China. He will visit China next month with the expectation to expand the co-operation with China. He also expressed his willingness to carry out more diverse artistic exchange with Chinese students and overseas Chinese with the support from the Consulate-general.
Founded in 1580, Chetham's School of Music is the largest music school in the UK, with a very high academic prestige in music education. With great respect, Mr. Zheng visited the Chetham Library, known as the "oldest public library in the English-speaking world." It was in this library that great revolutionary mentors Marx and Engels read a huge amount of literature, and conceived and drafted many classic works such as the Communist Manifesto. Today, the library still keeps the desks on which Marx and Engels used to read and write.
