The second World Football Culture Summit, which originated in Zibo, Shandong province, was held on Oct 23 at the National Football Museum in Manchester, ushering in a new era of cultural and educational exchanges between China and Britain.

Themed on "Chinese cuju and British football", the summit was jointly organized by the Manchester City Council and the Zibo government, with a delegation of Chinese officials and academics, officials from the National Football Museum, a host of UK academics and the Lord Mayor of Manchester, Eddy Newman, in attendance.

Lord Mayor of Manchester Eddy Newman and Zhou Maosong, director of the Zibo municipal bureau of culture, exchange gifts during the second World Football Culture Summit at the National Football Museum in Manchester, UK, Oct 23. [Photo by Mi Jiafeng/ zbnews.net]

The event was built on the success of the first World Football Culture Summit, held at Zibo's Linzi Football Museum in 2016.

Chinese academics gave key-note speeches on the origins and development of cuju, the ancient Chinese version of football, and on football related culture and education in China.

Cuju was influential in China for more than 2,000 years. In the Chinese language, "cu" means "to kick" and "ju" means "a ball made of leather".

Peter Holme, collections officer at the National Football Museum, gave a speech on the history of football in England.

Officials from China and the UK pose for a photo during the second World Football Culture Summit at the National Football Museum in Manchester, UK, Oct 23. [Photo by Mi Jiafeng/ zbnews.net]

The National Football Museum and the Linzi Football Museum exchanged gifts and made arrangements for reciprocal exhibitions of their artifacts.

The National Football Museum. [Photo by Mi Jiafeng/ zbnews.net]

"We were delighted to welcome the delegation from China for the second World Football Culture summit. As a forward-thinking museum, it's important we build relationships with similar institutions around the world to share our knowledge and also learn from them too," said Katie Cavanagh, an officer from the National Football Museum.