The "50th Anniversary of UK-China Ambassadorial Relations: UK-Hunan Cooperation and Engagement Photo Exhibition" opened online on the afternoon of December 7th. The Foreign Affairs Office of the Hunan Provincial People's Government and the British Consulate-General Guangzhou host the photo exhibition. More than 200 precious pictures recording memorable moments of exchanges and cooperation between the UK and Hunan in many fields are on display. In addition, the exhibition features UK-Hunan friendly visits; investment and trade; exchanges on education, agriculture, science and technology, and people-to-people engagement; and scenic pictures of Hunan Province, the UK, and Lincolnshire.

Xu Zhengxian, director of the Foreign Affairs Office of the Hunan Provincial People's Government; Matt Moody, British Consul-General in Guangzhou; Colin Davie, executive councillor of Lincolnshire, with which Hunan has established friendship Province-Region relation; representatives of the UK Department for International Trade, Lincolnshire County Council, and China-Britain Business Council; Hunanese living in the UK; and British people living in Hunan attended the opening ceremony.

Hunan and the UK have created many "firsts" in exchanges and cooperation since China, and the UK established ambassadorial relations in 1972. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China declared Hunan as one of the jurisdictions of the British Consulate-General Guangzhou in 2005. HRH Princess Anne was the first member of the British Royal Family to visit Hunan. HSBC Changsha Branch was known as the first foreign bank in Hunan. Zhuzhou CRRC Times Electric Co., Ltd. (TEC) acquired shares in the UK-based Dynex Power Inc., becoming China's first overseas M&A project in rail transit. Bangor College of Central South University of Forestry and Technology was the first Chinese-foreign cooperatively-run school in Hunan. A direct flight from Changsha to London launched in 2018 was the first to link the UK and central China.

In addition, Meixi Lake International Culture and Arts Centre, designed by the renowned British architect Zaha Hadid, is favoured by people from all walks of life. 

The UK Visa Center in Changsha was established in 2016, facilitating Hunan residents' visa applications.
 
The photo exhibition will last till January 26th, 2023. 

This article is from the Hunan Provincial Government www.enghunan.gov.cn.

Translator: Xiao Juan

Chinese source: hunantoday