A Kazakh delegation headed by EXPO 2017 Commissioner Rapil Zhoshybayev travelled to Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) member countries Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore during the first half of April. [...] The commissioner apprised them on the progress and practical preparations for the upcoming exhibition and highlighted a wide range of opportunities in the field of renewable and alternative energy.

The first overseas Confucius Institute (CI) was set up in South Korea in 2004. It is a non-profit educational organisation dedicated to the promotion of the Chinese language (Mandarin) and culture. And because their modus operandi is to operate within learning institutions, there are continued criticisms from encroaching on academic freedom to even espionage.

Guangzhou Juyi Exhibition Company and Asian Heritage Museum Group have signed a joint-venture agreement on strategic cooperation in exhibition and trade in Malaysia for cultural relics or artefacts from China.

“Sport is among the priorities of the public diplomacy arena [...] Iranian Ambassador to Malaysia Marziyeh Afkham said during a banquet with the Iranian ping pong players at the Iranian Embassy on Saturday. “Sport provides a quick path to understanding the world, and helps the establishment of strong friendship as well as close bonds among nations,” she said.

Shila Amzah is a Malaysian pop star famed as much for her fashion sense as for her powerful voice […] These days, though, she sings primarily in Mandarin […] In a country wary of Islam — the Chinese government has a fractious relationship with its ethnic Uighur minority in the western province of Xinjiang […] her rise is attributable to […] a rapidly evolving cultural relationship between China and Malaysia.

President Barack Obama will host a summit with leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in California on Feb. 15 and 16, the White House said on Wednesday. [...] “This unprecedented gathering – the first hosted by the United States with the ASEAN leaders – builds on the deeper partnership that the United States has forged with ASEAN since 2009 and will further advance the Administration’s rebalance to Asia and the Pacific,” 

Following the miraculous success of this year’s Giant Lantern Festival in the City of San Fernando, more good news arrived as the City Government received letters of thanks and positive publicity from the various consulates and embassies of the Philippines abroad where the San Fernando lantern has been making rounds as an iconic symbol of Filipino Christmas.