More than 500 youth delegates from ten member nations of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China, Japan and
the Republic of Korea (ROK) (10+3) gathered in Beijing on Thursday
to launch the ASEAN 10+3 youth exchanges program.
The youth delegation, invited by the All-China Youth Federation,
is to join the China-ASEAN Youth Camp and attend the China-ASEAN
Young Leaders Meeting with topics on youth leaders' role in ASEAN
members' social development, volunteers and East Asia community
buildup.
Besides Beijing, the ASEAN youth delegation will also visit
Manzhouli, a border city near Russia in north China's Inner
Mongolia Autonomous Region.
Two hundred delegates from Japan and the ROK will join 100
Chinese young people in a friendly meeting on the Beijing Olympic
Games and cultural activities in Beijing and Tianjin cities.
The year 2007 marked the 40th anniversary of the establishment
of the ASEAN, which groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos,
Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and
Vietnam. The Chinese government has planned a series of celebrating
activities.
The first China-ASEAN Youth Camp was held in China in October
2006 to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the establishment of
China-ASEAN dialogue relations.
According to a joint statement issued on the China-ASEAN
Commemorative Summit in 2006, China and ASEAN leaders agreed to
strengthen social and cultural cooperation by encouraging greater
cooperation between institutions of secondary and higher education;
increasing youth exchanges by initiating the China-ASEAN Young
Leaders Conference, China-ASEAN Young Entrepreneurs Association and
China-ASEAN Young Civil Servants' Exchange Program as flagship
projects.
This 10+3 youth exchanges program is initiated to implement the
consensus reached by all state leaders to push forward youth
exchanges and cooperation in an all-round way, according to the
All-China Youth Federation.
(Xinhua News Agency August 17, 2007)
