２００７ Ｉｎｔｅｒｎａｔｉｏｎａｌ Ｙｏｕｔｈ Ｗｅｅｋ Ｊｉａｎｇｓｕ，Ｃｈｉｎａ

On the morning of July 26， 2007， about 600 young students and youth workers from 57 countries and regions in the world and more than 4，000 young students from Jiangsu Province happily gathered at the Nanjing Olympic Sports Centre where the grand opening ceremony of the 2007 International Youth Week Jiangsu， China was held. Chen Haosu， CPAFFC president; Bai Suning， Zhang Weiguo and Feng Jianqin， leading officials of the Jiangsu Provincial government; Wu Xijun， president of the Jiangsu Provincial People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (JPPAFFC)， as well as members of the UN employee training group， consul general of the Japanese Consulate General in Shanghai and cultural attaché of the Austrian Consulate General in Shanghai were present at the ceremony. Chen Haosu gave a speech on the occasion. Wang Hua， director general of the Foreign Affairs Office of the Jiangsu Provincial Government and vice president of the JPPAFFC， presided over the opening ceremony.

The activities of the Youth Week with the theme of “We are the Sunshine， We are the Future” sponsored by the JPPAFFC were carried out at both provincial and city levels starting from July 26. Besides the main venue Nanjing， over 400 young foreign students took part in the activities held in 7 other cities， namely， Suzhou， Wuxi， Changzhou， Yangzhou， Zhenjiang， Yancheng and Xuzhou.

In his warm speech， CPAFFC President Chen Haosu， who specially came to Nanjing to participate in the Youth Week， said， since the beginning of the 21st century， by upholding the banner of “friendship， cooperation， peace and development”， the JPPAFFC has given full play to the characteristics and advantages of the nongovernmental international exchanges， firmly served the central government’s overall diplomacy and local reform and opening up， kept doing innovative and pragmatic work， formed its own distinctive features and style and carried out fruitful nongovernmental diplomatic activities， among which international exchanges between the youths are one of the most outstanding aspects.

Chen Haosu said， international exchanges between the youths link the future progress of the world. The CPAFFC firmly supports all the international exchanges aimed at promoting friendly cooperation between the youths of all countries. Chen warmly praised the progress and achievements made by the JPPAFFC and the local people’s friendship associations at various levels in the regional and global exchanges between the youths.

In his speech， on behalf of the Provincial Party Committee， the Standing Committee of the Provincial People’s Congress and the Provincial People’s Political Consultative Conference， Jiangsu Deputy Governor Zhang Weiguo said， the people of Jiangsu love life and peace， carry on the fine tradition of “honouring promises and promoting harmony among all nations”， make friends all over the world and strive for common development. This Youth Week is a significant happy event worth celebrating and commemorating in the history of Jiangsu’s external people-to-people exchanges. Through all kinds of exchanges， the Youth Week will help the Chinese and foreign young people have better communications and closer friendship， exchange feelings and ideas， establish trust and show their ideals， respect for science， active and forward-looking attitude and healthy growth in the new century. Zhang expressed his belief that through the activities of the Week， the friendship between the youths of Jiangsu and other countries would be greatly enhanced.

In her speech， President Wu Xijun said with emotion， the youth are full of vigour and vitality and imbued with ideals and creativity. They are the hope of the country and the future of the world. She hoped that the Chinese and foreign young people would take the opportunity of this Youth Week to enhance mutual understanding and trust， strengthen friendship and cooperation， learn from each other， exchange views on development， and carry on the spirit of “friendship， peace， cooperation and development” from generation to generation， carry forward the ideal of “We are the sunshine. We are the future”， and for the lofty cause of peace and development train themselves into a new generation who are learned and versatile and can adapt to the fast changing modern society.

In their speeches at the opening ceremony， Chen Xing， a Jiangsu youth representative， and Otache Yusuf Martin， a representative of foreign youth， expressed their looking ahead to the future， their wish of carrying on friendship， marching forward hand in hand with each other and remaining good friends forever.

After the opening ceremony， the participants started such activities as learning Chinese， paper cutting， wushu， Chinese folk songs， acupuncture， massage and the Peking Opera and had exchanges in Japanese， Korean， Vietnamese and Belgian cultures. There were forums on multi-culture， environmental protection， resource conservation， school and social education; exhibitions of youth’s calligraphic works， paintings， and photos， scientific and technological achievements， photos of Jiangsu scenery， model airplane performance， etc. Every activity drew a large number of participants and won favourable comments. On the evening of that day， a reception and a gala party were held in the Nanjing Shuangmenlou Hotel. The young people from Jiangsu and foreign countries gave wonderful performances. Many foreign friends asked not to announce the end of the party and were reluctant to leave even late at night.

The Youth Week with rich and colourful activities had one climax after another. The Youth Cup Friendship Half Marathon Race was held on the shore of the beautiful Xuanwu Lake on the early morning of July 27. About 200 runners from over 20 countries participated in it; all trying hard to win the champion. The three Japanese delegations were particularly excited， for they not only won the men’s and women’s champions， but also six of the 12 cups. Head of the delegation of the Austrian-Chinese Friendship Association was very happy for having won the fifth of the women’s group. She said， “One World， One Dream” is the slogan of the Beijing Olympic Games， and this Youth Week is the starting point for us to realize the dream.

“The Music of Japanese Animation” held on the July 30th attracted a large number of cartoon fans. Middle- and old-aged participants were as enthusiastic and obsessed as the young ones， and their hearts were linked by the music.

The other 7 cities also carried out rich and colourful activities with special themes such as Seven Colours Cartoon Day， Sports Exchange Day， Agricultural Science and Technology Day， and Ecological and Environmental Protection Day.

The 2007 International Youth Week Jiangsu， China came to an end. The seeds of friendship it spread will definitely blossom and bear rich fruits.