The EU-China Year of Youth officially opened today at a big opening ceremony. Present at the ceremony were Premier Wen Jiabao and Danish Ambassador Friis Arne Petersen.
On Wednesday the 23rd of February the EU-China Year of Youth officially opened in Beijing at an opening ceremony at the Beijing Capital Museum.
Present at the ceremony were Premier Wen Jiabao and the Danish Ambassador to China Friis Arne Petersen, as well as 200 young participants from European and Chinese youth organizations.
The opening ceremony is part of a week-long seminar where 100 European and 100 Chinese young participants discuss different topics, such as environmental protection and youth organization development.
Among the 100 European participants are three Danes; Miki Dam Larsen and Jakob Paaske representing the Danish Youth Council and Peter Torp Madsen, chair of the European youth organization EEE-YFU.
“You don’t get inspired by people who are just like yourself, and there are many differences between Europe and China. So the dialogue between the Chinese and European youth is very valuable and helps to strengthen the mutual understanding,” says Miki Dam Larsen, representing the Danish Youth Council, an umbrella organisation for some seventy youth organisations in Denmark.
The two representatives from the Danish Youth Council, Miki Dam Larsen and Jakob Paaske, look forward to the dialogue with the Chinese participants and hope to create ties to Chinese youth organizations during the seminar.
On the 11th of January the EU-China Year of Youth was also launched in Brussels at a similar event. Throughout the year a series of events in both in Europe and China will promote intercultural dialogue and mutual understanding between European and Chinese youth.
