Chinese Youth Delegation in Japan to Promote Mutual Understanding among Youth

Members of Chinese youth delegation perform dance during a welcoming banquet in Tokyo, capital of Japan, May 4, 2008. A Chinese youth delegation led by Zhang Xiaolan, secretary of the secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League of China, arrived in Tokyo on Sunday to start its seven-day friendly visit to Japan. (Xinhua Photo)

The 200-member youth delegation comprises Chinese civil servants, entrepreneurs, artists, scholars and college students.

The delegation attended the opening ceremony of the China-Japan Friendship Exchange Year and visied institutions, companies and schools, where they interacted with Japanese youth from all walks of life.

In past decades, China and Japan have witnessed frequent youth exchanges which culminated in the visit of a 3,000-member Japanese youth delegation in 1984 and its reciprocal visit by a Chinese delegation in 1985.

Shiranishi Shinichiro, chairman of the Japan-China Friendship Association, was on the Japanese youth delegation in 1984.

"The Chinese government invited us to visit China in 1984. We flew to many cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing and Wuhan. We were warmly welcomed there, and the Chinese side had prepared for the visit quite well. That visit sowed the seed of Sino-Japanese friendship. "

Cao Jiayin is a student at Nanjing University of Science and Technology and a member of the delegation. She says the visit has broadened her horizons.

"I really should see and study something through my own thoughts on this visit. I need to think about Sino-Japanese relations from the perspective of a college student and a youth. We should also summarize things like what China needs to learn from Japan and the other way around."

Ni Jian is the deputy head of the Chinese delegation. He says the visit this time is themed on discovering the "new" Japan.

"I think the biggest purpose of this visit is to learn more about Japanese society, the Japanese youth, and vice versa. Only through understanding can we establish rapport and friendship between each other."

According to a referendum signed by the two governments, China and Japan will realize annual exchange visits of 4,000 Chinese and Japanese youth for four consecutive years beginning this year.