China and Canada will hold a series of cultural events in October to celebrate the 40th anniversary of their diplomatic relations, a Chinese official says.

The events include a dance drama, a film festival, a cultural dialogue and a photo exhibition, Lin Difu, counselor for cultural affairs at the Chinese embassy in Canada, said at a news briefing Wednesday.

The dance drama, based on the famous Chinese novel "Dream of the Red Chamber," will be performed Oct. 9 in Ottawa, and on Oct. 12-13 in Toronto.

Dream of the Red Chamber, similar to Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, is a tragic love story and one of the four greatest written works in classical Chinese literature.

Lin said a China-Canada Film Festival will take place Oct. 6-21 with the opening ceremony at the main theater of the Canadian Museum of Civilization.

During the festival, 10 Chinese films on different subjects and in different styles will be screened in Ottawa, Toronto, and Montreal together with two Canadian documentary films to show the friendship between the two peoples.

Meanwhile, the second China-Canada Cultural Dialogue will be held Oct. 13-14 in Ottawa, Lin said.

"This event will continue to be a platform that fosters the dialogue and exchanges between Canadian and Chinese professionals in arts and cultural institutions, corporations and media, government and volunteers," he said.

Lin said that as part of the dialogue, there will be a special event at the Canada Science and Technology Museum to celebrate the induction of Norman Bethune, a Canadian surgeon who died in 1939 while supporting Chinese soldiers in their fight against Japan's aggression, into the Canadian Science and Engineering Hall of Fame.

In addition, a photo exhibition reflecting the historic moments and events in China-Canada relations over the past four decades will be held Oct. 14-28.

The opening ceremony of the exhibition sponsored by the Chinese Culture Ministry and the Xinhua News Agency will be held in Ottawa during the official reception on Oct. 13, the day when China-Canada relations were officially established in 1970.

"These activities will offer an overview of China-Canada relations which have shown fresh impetus, vitality and potential," Lin said.

China-Canada relations were established on Oct. 13, 1970, after then Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau recognized the People's Republic of China. Canada became one of the first Western countries to recognize the PRC.

Bilateral relations have generally been stable, and China currently is Canada's second-largest trading partner while Canada is China's 13th largest.