LONDON - Relations between China and the European Union (EU) are expected to get a boost from year-long cultural activities and academic exchanges targeted at youth to cement better understanding and appreciation of cross-cultural differences.

The launch of the China-EU Year of Youth at the Chinese embassy in the United Kingdom on Friday afternoon attracted huge interest from British youth organizations and universities.

It is the first of such event jointly hosted by China and the EU since they established diplomatic relations. It is also by far the largest cultural exchange between the people of China and the EU.

The event was also observed by Chinese embassies across the EU and similar open days for local youth were also held in EU missions in Beijing.

"In Britain, May is associated with beautiful flowers. For the Chinese, May is a season associated with youth," said Liu Xiaoming, Chinese ambassador in the UK.

"In China, we associate young people with flowers as they are full of vigor and new ideas.

"They represent the vanguard of the times and the hope of the world," said Liu, adding that almost everything that is great has been done by youth - a quote borrowed from Benjamin Disraeli, a former British prime minister.

Premier Wen Jiabao and EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso declared 2011 the EU-China Year of Youth at the 12th EU-China summit in November 2009 in Nanjing, China.

"There are huge benefits to be gained by engaging our young people in dialogue. A major gain is to greatly boost understanding between our different cultures," Liu added.

Liu's speech resonated with the young British participants, whose discussions with Chinese diplomats included China-UK relations, China's international role and understanding China.

Ben Howlett, the national chairman of Conservative Future, the youth movement of the UK Conservative Party, said young people in the UK and China both hope to strengthen understanding and communication, adding that education has a key role to play.

"The China-EU Year of Youth is an important initiative which can help us learn from one another, and develop greater understanding of our different cultures and values," said Susan Nash, vice-president of Society & Citizenship.

Recalling fond memories of her experiences in China, H-J Colston, director of the Chopsticks Club, the UK's network for China-related professionals, said: "I remember, with great fondness, my life-changing years studying Mandarin in Beijing in 1990 when Beijing hosted the Asia Games."

She brought along the games' T-shirt to prove it.

Looking to the future, Colston said "China and the UK should do more in publicizing ourselves, taking time to get to know one another and sharing our cultures to generate greater and healthier mutual understanding."

Ambassador Liu added: "I do hope that young people from China and the EU will cherish every opportunity to learn and to help China and the EU progress together."

Sustained growth of China-EU relations calls for new areas and creative ways of cooperation to nurture more positive results, Liu noted.

China Daily