Premier presses button to activate official website

BEIJING - Premier Wen Jiabao joined young people from China and Europe on Wednesday at the Capital Museum at the launch of a one-year youth exchange program.

"This is the first theme year since China established diplomatic ties with the European Union (EU), and also the largest cultural and personnel exchange between the two sides," the premier said at the opening ceremony of the EU-China Year of Youth.

"That signals the China-EU relationship is more and more energetic and promising," Wen added.

The premier then pressed a button to launch the official website of the program (2011y.net/en), which has many interactive features.

Last month, the European side also held a high-profile ceremony to mark the opening of the exchange program in Brussels.

Proposed by Wen and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso in 2009, the program is being launched against the backdrop of frequent top-level visits between China and the EU and its member states.

In January, Vice-Premier Li Keqiang visited Spain, Germany and the United Kingdom, following visits to Europe by President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen in November and October last year.

"You, the young people are the leaders of tomorrow. And this is why we want to involve you as early as possible in inspiring the partnership," newly appointed EU Ambassador to China Markus Ederer said at the ceremony.

This is the first time the EU has held a youth-themed year with any partner worldwide, he said.

"I think it is a sign of the strategic importance which we attach to the partnership," Ederer.

"We see this year not as one of the singular events, we want it to be the beginning of a long preparation and many exchanges to ensure better understanding of each other so that we are better equipped to face future challenges," he added.

More than 200 young people and scholars from China and Europe have been holding a range of discussions in Beijing on issues ranging from culture to climate change and fashion since Monday.

Michael Kahn-Ackermann, president of European Union National Institutes for Culture China Cluster and the head of the Goethe Institute in Beijing, paid special attention to distorted reports about China carried by European media.

"Media is not only an information provider but also a commercial institution ... and negative reports are always more popular than positive ones," he said.

Zhou Xun, a famous Chinese actress and one of the Chinese ambassadors for the youth year, said she was impressed by the idea of young people in Berlin planting trees to celebrate the New Year.

"That is much better than the Chinese tradition of firecrackers," said the United Nations Development Program goodwill ambassador. "There is so much we can learn from each other."

The European youth delegation will fly to Guizhou province in Southwest China on Thursday to have a look at the Miao ethnic group's life there and the Chinese countryside.

China Daily