Last month China’s president Xi Jinping presented his pragmatic vision for China’s arts and creative industries. (...)Whereas his predecessor Hu Jintao saw culture as a means to boost China’s global prestige and soft power, Xi is as concerned with shaping China’s hearts and minds.

Guests and artists pose for photos at the opening ceremony of the Heavenly Creations - Exhibition on Intangible Culture Heritage of China's Zhejiang Province, in the All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society in New Delhi, capital of India, on Nov. 21, 2014. 

The Embassy of Japan will co-host a photography exhibition titled 'Hiroshima, City of Peace'  in association with the city of Hiroshima, Oman-Japan Friendship Association (OJFA), and the Hiroshima-Oman Friendship Association, from November 30 to December 6, in the main atrium of Muscat Grand Mall. 

India's soft power was being driven by its economic growth. But all that crashed after 2008. Almost 85 chairs for India studies were created, new cultural centres conceived and opened. But as budgets did not grow, they took a hit in the last couple of years.

Prime Minister Khalid Bahah discussed on Tuesday with the U.S. ambassador to Yemen Matthew Tueller the priorities of cooperation relations between the two countries.

A combination of the most delicious select dishes from tropical Indonesia, traditional dances, a fashion show of traditional attire and soothing music tunes — it was cultural diplomacy at its very best.

The Chinese media reported yesterday that the pair will perform Little Apple at the American Music Awards this Sunday, along with stars more familiar to Americans, including Mary J. Blige, Fergie, and One Direction. The show could be a breakthrough for the country’s soft-power campaign, an effort by the state-backed entertainment industry to make Chinese culture more popular worldwide.