The centre was officially opened on 17 January 1990, by Diana, Princess of Wales. The centre was originally built upon an ethos of fostering community cohesion between the local Chinese community in Manchester and other communities in the north west of England. The centre's educational programme was part of its commitment to promote Chinese culture to the local community and the north-west. The centre facilitated artist-led educational workshops and had a long relationship with local practitioners, such as Mary Tang and Cathy Wu. The centre also held exhibitions and events which promoted Chinese arts and culture. Up until then, most exhibitions of "Chinese Arts" in Manchester had been curated and displayed by British collectors at venues such as the Manchester Art Gallery. Many of the centre's early exhibitions focused on local culturally-significant works as well as more national and international practitioners. In 1992, the centre held its first large scale contemporary art exhibition, Beyond the Chinese Takeaway, which reflected on the experience of second and third generation British Chinese artists. The leaflet for the exhibition stated that it was "the first exhibition of its kind researching the innovative works of contemporary artists of Chinese origin living in Britain" and worked to "challenge the stereotypes" of the Chinese community. Reviewing the focus of the centre (1993-1996) A review of the organisation in 1993 by external consultants found that the centre had "consistently fallen well short of fulfilling its purpose" and the general perception was that the organisation was on "borrowed time". The centre was relaunched in October 1993 with a renewed mission to promote a wide range of traditional and contemporary art forms and would use its artistic and education programmes to progress how Chinese culture was perceived in the UK. The organisation also began to reposition itself as a development agency for emerging artists and art makers of Chinese heritage. As a part of the relaunch, the centre arranged a city-wide series of events to mark Chinese New Year in 1994, featuring activities at the centre, the greenroom, Cornerhouse, and the Dancehouse theatre. The centre also programmed the Journey's West exhibition, which was initiated by the Lambeth Chinese Community Association. In 1994, the CVAA introduced an arts worker training scheme and activities targeted at the local community to address its staffing problems and to strengthen its links with the local community. The new ways of working were tested between September