China has announced the appointment of several new ambassadors, including two envoys to Europe, in line with decisions adopted by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.

Yang Guoqiang was appointed ambassador to Latvia, replacing Hu Yeshun. Pan Weifang was appointed ambassador to Slovakia, replacing Gu Ziping.

UK Ambassador to China Sebastian Wood hosted an opening reception on Thursday for the exhibition Picturing China 1870-1950 at JW Marriott hotel, Beijing. This is the first time the photographs, taken from various British collections, have been displayed in China.

"These images include scenes of Chinese society, culture and heritage in times of rapid change, as well as snapshots of expatriate life," the embassy says.

Between the 1840s and 1950s tens of thousands of Britons lived in or visited China, and the exhibition presents photographs that they had taken, commissioned or bought. Mostly still held by families with past China connections, the images on display come from the "Historical Photographs of China" project at the University of Bristol, which is funded by the Arts & Humanities Research Council and the British Academy.

The photographs will be on view at the hotel until April 7.

Netherlands Ambassador Aart Jacobi visited the city of Wuhan last week, meeting Jia Yaobin, the deputy mayor, and Wang Junzheng, the vice-governor of Hubei province.

EU Ambassador to China Markus Ederer delivered the opening speech at the launch of the Chatham House report on March 18. The meeting was co-organized by the delegation of the EU, the UK embassy and Chatham House. More than 90 Chinese and foreign experts and diplomats including the former vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress Cheng Siwei, attended the event. "Resources Futures" analyzes the latest global trends in the production, trade and consumption of key raw materials or intermediate products from crops, fuels, fisheries, forest products and metals to fertilizers. It included discussion of China's role in global resource security, including current and future resources production, consumption and trade.

Danish Ambassador Friis Arne Petersen has been in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, to examine new stable facilities for 641 Danish breeding pigs recently released from quarantine.

The tour was joined by investors from Denmark's Scandinavian Farms, who also inspected the farm and then met local officials at a town meeting followed by an official dinner.

China is the world's biggest consumer and producer of pig meat, and Denmark is known for expertise in pig breeding. "Therefore it makes good sense to export this expertise to the country in the world where it can be of best use," Petersen said.

The new batch of pigs are the first to arrive in China in almost two years, during which Danish officials and the Chinese control authority for imports, AQSIQ, negotiated rules for exporting pigs from Danish areas within 50 km of an outbreak of H1N1.

China's recognition of Danish control systems this year cleared the way to restart the export of breeding pigs, the Danish embassy said last week.

Send embassy news to Michaelpeters@chinadaily.com.cn.

(China Daily 03/22/2013 page31)