Diplomatic Pouch >> With Mike Peters

Faith and begorrah! The Irish Embassy in Beijing celebrates St Patrick's Day this week, and 24 hours isn't enough to contain it.

Ambassador Declan Kelleher says this fourth annual hoopla began with appearances by Irish writers Fergal Keene and Emma Donoghue at a literary festival March 5; then came several art exhibitions and an "Irish Evening" at the National Center for the Performing Arts.

The upcoming finale weekend includes a Celtic concert at the Forbidden City Concert Hall on Friday, the annual Irish Ball on Saturday and the festival day on Sunday, with music, dancing, bagpipes - the proper Irish kind, played with the elbows - and a parade. Other events were being held in Shanghai and Hong Kong.

When they say "GI", they're not talking about soldiers: A swarm of 30 EU business leaders, representing an array of world-famous European food and beverage products - including Parma Ham from Italy, Roquefort cheese from France, Tokaj wine from Hungary, Swedish vodka and Scotch whisky - will visit China from March 21-25.

Led by EU Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Dacian Ciolos, the delegation will visit Shanghai, Hangzhou and Beijing to promote quality European agricultural products with Geographical Indications (GIs).

That's a World Trade Organization label affirming that the item has been "entirely or partly produced in a given geographical area using recognized know-how", Ciolos says on the EU delegation's web site.

Organizers say the group will also be eager to learn more about China's epicurean traditions and explore the richness of rural China.

European Commissioner Michel Barnier, in charge of the Internal Market and Services, including financial services, will visit Beijing on March 21-22 for talks with Chinese finance ministry officials, regulators and banks. The main focus: global financial regulatory reform, G20 discussions, public procurement issues, market access and sharing experience and information on both EU and China current reforms.

The Chinese company BYD (Build Your Dreams) will soon use Denmark as test market for two newly developed electrical buses. BYD specializes in IT, automobiles and new energy, and this is one of the first times that BYD is testing outside China. Denmark was chosen because of Danish companies' broad experience with electrical vehicles technology, says Danish Minister of Foreign Affairs Lene Espersen.

Electrical vehicles play a crucial part in Copenhagen's ambition to make Denmark fully independent of fossil fuels by 2050. There is no registration tax or owner's charge on electric vehicles in Denmark, making electrical vehicles a very attractive alternative to traditional cars.

Embassy news can be submitted by e-mail to [email protected].