China-Bolivia Sports Cooperation Project Phase II - Technical Guidance for Opening/Closing Ceremonies/Performances (Linked to Record ID#54614, #69763, #72765, #72768)

On December 14, 2016, the Bolivian Ministry of Sports signed three letters of exchange with the Chinese Ambassador to Bolivia, comprising the second phase of cooperation between the two on the 2018 South American Games in Cochabamba.

In one of these letters of exchange, an unspecified Chinese government institution pledges to provide technical assistance to the Bolivian Ministry of Sports for the opening and closing ceremonies of the games, including training and choreography for group gymnastics performances at each of the ceremonies.

The assistance, according to these documents, would be comprised of a team of Chinese specialists arriving in Bolivia for a period of between 30 and 60 days in 2017. The other two letters of exchange signed on the same day are captured in projects #72765 and #54614.

The Chinese government, through this agreement, also agreed to provide performance and training clothing for the group gymnastics performance in the ceremonies (captured in Record ID#69763).

These pieces of clothing, inflatables, flags and accessories were delivered, and had their import taxes waived on September 5, 2018.

On August 15th, 2017 the signing ceremony took place for a Memorandum of Understanding on the Opening and Closing Ceremony Technical Guidance Project, the document being signed by the Chinese Ambassador and the Bolivian Ministry of Sports.

It is unclear exactly what this memorandum adds to the letters of exchange from December 2016, or if it is simply further codification.

According to Bolivian media (Opinión and Página Siete), a team of 5-6 experts from China arrived in Bolivia in late March 2017 and stayed for 30 days to help organize the ceremonies. In July 2017, a new team of six would arrive to finish the work of the first team.

In December 2017, a final team of ten, nine scriptwriters and one director/translator, would arrive and train the Bolivian actors and staff who would be putting on the ceremonies.

Opinión additionally reports three experts in choreography would be arriving in May 2017 and stay through the end of the games in 2018, while Página Siete reported a larger group of experts would arrive in March 2018 and stay through the end of the games.

According to official sources, 35 experts in total were sent to Bolivia to provide technical assistance with the gymnastics performances at the ceremonies. This is the second time the Chinese government has provided technical assistance for these ceremonies.

In November 2016, a group of Bolivian technicians travelled to China to acquire training in the first phase of cooperation on the 2018 games (see Record ID#). The actual South American Games took place in 2018, with the opening ceremony on May 26 and ending June 10.

It was hoped that Chinese assistance and technical guidance, particularly given their experience with large-scale sports events, would help Bolivia expand their influence and strengthen Bolivian-Chinese sports cooperation.