The Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries held a conference in commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the birth of Rabindranath Tagore, the Indian literary giant and first Asian Nobel laureate, on May 7.

Since his poetry anthology Gitanjali was introduced into China in 1915, Tagore has exerted substantial influence on the formation and development of modern Chinese poetry. He has visited China twice and composed a poem entitled I Have a Chinese Name, to express his attachment to the Chinese people.

S. Jaishankar, Indian ambassador to China, described Tagore as the father figure of the Chinese Indian relationship.

As an important part of the 2011 Year of China-India Exchange, a series of commemorative activities are to be held around China, in the forms of international symposiums, book launches, photo shows, and poetry recitals.