On August 23, the opening ceremony of the first Sino-Africa Youth Festival, a follow-up of Sino-Africa Cooperation Forum, is held in Beijing. Chinese President Hu Jintao sent his message of congratulations to the occasion.

First Sino-Africa Youth Festival kicks off

Mountains and rivers apart, the friendship between China and Africa has a long history, said President Hu Jintao in his message. The president reiterated the decision of the two sides to develop the long term stable new partnership based on equality, mutual benefits and comprehensive cooperation. He expressed his belief that the Sino-African Youth Festival would contribute to promote the comprehensive cooperation and common development between China and Africa.

The festival has received message of congratulations from heads of states and government top officials of 23 African countries. High ranking officials and representatives from China and Africa were present at the ceremony, including Wang Zhaoguo, Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of China National People's Congress (NPC), Li Zhaoxing, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hailekiros Gessesse, Ethiopian special envoy of Sino-Africa Cooperation Forum, Zhou Qiang, First Secretary of the Central Commitee of China Communist Youth League, and Zhao Yong, Chairman of All-China Youth Federation.

In their speech they all reviewed the traditional friendly exchanges between China and Africa and expressed their hope that the festival would be an opportunity to strengthen the ties and understanding not only between the young generation of China and Africa, but also the people of China and Africa.

The festival is organized by the Central Committee of China Communist Youth League and All-China Youth Federation. 132 young representatives from 44 African countries are in Beijing now for the festival. The nine-day event will be a platform for young representatives from China and Africa to have dialogues and communication on trade and culture. It will also take them to Henan, Hubei and Guangdong provinces.

Sino-Africa Youth Festival was propose by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao at the Second Ministerial Conference of the Sino-African Cooperation Forum in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in December, 2003. The proposal was warmly welcomed by the African members of the Forum. It was then included into the action plan of the bilateral cooperation for 2004 - 2006 which was initiated at the meeting.

By People's Daily Online