Tango Desire, a dance performance from Argentina, will tour China to celebrate the year of cultural exchanges. [Photo/China Daily]

China prepares to move its feet to Latin music as a wide-ranging cultural program unfolds this year, Chen Nan reports.

The largest cultural exchange program ever between China and Latin America will be held soon with a series of events planned in China and 30 Latin American and Caribbean countries through the year, says Zhu Qi, deputy director of the Bureau for External Cultural Relations, an affiliate of China's Culture Ministry.

President Xi Jinping had proposed 2016 as the "year of cultural exchanges" between China and the Latin American and Caribbean countries two years ago while attending the China-Latin America and Caribbean Summit in Brasilia.

The opening ceremony will be held at Beijing's Tianqiao Performing Arts Center on March 25. Organized by the China Arts and Entertainment Group, hundreds of artists from Latin America and the Caribbean world will display various art forms to audiences in China, such as the salsa, tango and ballet.

The CAEG, which was founded in 1957 as the country's first performing arts outfit to engage in cultural-exchange programs, will also take Chinese pianist Lang Lang on a tour of four Latin American countries, including Chile and Argentina, in August.

The celebrated pianist, who has previously played in Latin America, says the local people have left an impression on him.

"I get inspired when I perform there," says Lang, who is "image ambassador" for the events this year. "I once watched tango and salsa performances at homes in Argentina and Brazil. From a very close distance, I could feel the dancers' passion for both dance and life. My heart almost jumped out of my chest."