On December 27, 2022, the handover ceremony of the maintenance and renovation project of the China-aided Myanmar National Art Theater was held in Yangon. Chinese Ambassador to Myanmar Chen Hai, Minister of Religious Affairs and Culture of Myanmar, Ge Ge, and Economic and Commercial Counselor of the Embassy Tan Shufu attended the event and cut the ribbon for the handover of the project. Ambassador Chen Hai and Minister Ge Ge signed and exchanged handover certificates.

In his speech, Ambassador Chen Hai expressed his warm congratulations on the official completion and handover of the project, and expressed his heartfelt thanks to the builders from China and Myanmar who have worked hard for the smooth implementation of the project. He said that the Myanmar National Art Theater is the largest theater in Myanmar. It was built with the assistance of the Chinese government in 1990 and is one of the landmark projects that symbolizes the friendship between China and Myanmar. Since its completion, the theater has continued to provide assistance to the development of Myanmar's cultural and artistic undertakings, and has witnessed the inheritance and promotion of the Pauk-Phaw friendship between China and Myanmar on the art stage. In view of the actual situation of the theater's use for many years, in order to make it more effective, China and Myanmar decided to use the Chinese aid to upgrade the theater. Since the start of the project in 2019, it has overcome difficulties such as the epidemic and continued to promote the renovation project. Today, the Myanmar National Art Theater has been upgraded to a high-standard modern art theater with new vitality. After the Myanmar National Art Theater is completed and handed over, China will continue to provide technical maintenance and training for a period of time to provide guarantees for the use of the theater and help Myanmar create a platform for artists to display their talents and the public to receive cultural influence.

Since the outbreak of the new crown epidemic, China has provided urgent assistance to Myanmar with vaccines and medical supplies, effectively helping Myanmar to prevent and control the epidemic, and promoting the implementation of aid to Myanmar's National Center for Disease Control and Medical Staff Training Center, Gunnong Bridge, Mandalay Second Industrial Training Center, etc. Livelihood projects. In the field of humanities, in addition to the completed and delivered National Stadium, the restoration project of Ta Bingyu Pagoda in Bagan, Myanmar aided by China was launched in January this year. Cooperation, the Chinese side helps Myanmar to boost tourism in aspects such as the training of Chinese-speaking tour guides. China is willing to work with Myanmar to make good use of the advantages of China and Myanmar's geographical proximity, close kinship, and cultural ties to strengthen exchanges and mutual learning, so that the results of cooperation in the cultural field will benefit the Myanmar people more and better, and promote the process of jointly building a China-Myanmar community with a shared future.

In his speech, Minister Brother spoke highly of the China-aided Myanmar National Art Theater maintenance and renovation project. He said that the 75th anniversary of Myanmar's independence is coming soon, and the Myanmar National Art Theater is a precious gift from China to the country and people of Myanmar. During the COVID-19 epidemic, Chinese experts overcame difficulties and continued to advance the renovation project, for which the Myanmar side expressed its high respect and sincere thanks. The Myanmar National Art Theater was built with Chinese aid and has held many national conferences and performances. The new Myanmar National Art Theater demonstrates the close cooperation between the expert teams of the two countries and the mutual understanding and mutual help between the two peoples, which will be rejuvenated with new vitality. Editor/He Yuting