CSIAF is a month-long torrent of public performances, exhibitions, workshops, and arts classes for the masses, as well as a forum and performing arts fair geared toward the international arts community, taking place in theatres and conference rooms throughout Shanghai. “Some 750 people from nearly 50 countries are attending the forum this year,” CSIAF vice president Li Ming said. 

China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi is currently on a tour across Africa, where he is busy shaking hands with dignitaries and posing for photo ops, . Wang's New Year's visits to the African continent are almost a tradition, this time he is in Madagascar, Tanzania, Zambia, Congo and Nigeria. Zambia wants to become a transport and logistics hub in southern Africa and Wang has promised help. [...] China is investing heavily in Africa. 

Beijing predicts that the new Silk Road will allow China to extend and showcase its soft power both culturally and economically. We are in a "period of strategic opportunity" up to 2020, according to the Beijing leadership, notwithstanding the remarks from American president-elect Donald Trump or territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s message to the newly established China Global Television Network sounds simple enough. It’s one he’s repeated over and over to state media during his nearly five years in power. “Tell China’s story well,” he said in a congratulatory letter published by the broadcaster on New Year’s Eve, the day the organization launched. 

What's on Weibo, an independent blog that reports on social and cultural trends in China, recently released a list of the top five embassies with the largest number of followers on Sina Weibo, China's most influential micro-blogging platform. The Israeli embassy tops the list with over 1.91 million followers, which are 800,000 more than the Canadian embassy, the second on the list, and almost double that of the US embassy, which sits at No. 3.

From Sunday, Chile will begin to prepare for celebration of the Chinese Spring Festival, for the seventh year in the city of Vina del Mar and the first time in the capital, Santiago. The cultural program, organized by the Confucius Institute of Santo Tomas University, will last in Vina del Mar until Jan. 15. 

Africa has been the centre of Nigerian foreign policy as a regional power and by attachment to several fundamental principles, including her unity and independence, capability to exercise influence in the region, peaceful settlement of disputes [...] There was however the need for a robust policy instrument to achieve these aims and which undoubtedly needed constant review to match the dynamics of the ever changing world and global politics.