Though China and Iceland are located far apart, the two peoples boast a long history of friendly exchanges. Icelandic Chinese Cultural Society (ICCS) was established at 1952, long before the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. Former Chairman Arnthor Helgason of ICCS was granted by the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries with the title "Friendship Ambassador".

Cultural exchanges become more active since the establishment of the diplomatic ties between the two countries. China has sent Peking Opera Group, Table Tennis Team and Acrobatic Group to Iceland to stage performance and strengthen cultural links. Icelandic concert and stamp exhibition were also held in China.

In 1994 the two governments signed Cultural Agreement, and in 2013 the two countries signed Memorandum of Understanding on Cultural Cooperation. These years have seen increasing cultural exchanges of art exhibitions and stamp exhibitions, as well as exchanges of art groups. On January 2019, Chinese Spring Festival was introduced to Iceland with gals shows and open day activity. Iceland literature works as Icelandic Sagas: A Selection, Edda and Johannesar's Dairy and Poem of the First Visit by Icelandic Delegation to People's Republic of China in Chinese version were published in China, with Icelandic version of The Analects of Confucius and TaoTeChing published in Iceland.

On April 2004 the two countries signed Memorandum of Understanding on Tourism Visas of Chinese Tourists to Iceland. In recent years, more and more Chinese tourists visited Iceland. 2018 has seen around 89000 visitors from China mainland to Iceland, making China becoming Iceland's seventh largest source of tourists in Asia for seven consecutive years.