China, Russia to hold Year of Youth Exchanges

China and Russia have planned to hold the Year of Youth Exchanges, a Chinese official said here on Wednesday.

Hao Ping, Chinese Vice Minister of Education, said the Year of Youth Exchanges will become a future spotlight of bilateral cooperation following the successfully-held China-Russia National Year, Language Year and Tourism Year by the two countries.

Several large-scale activities including summer camps, sports games, creative festivals and competitions involving young people of the two countries will be held within the framework of the event, Hao told Chinese reporters.

Starting from 2014, China and Russia will send a large number of representatives of young people from various fields to visit each other and establish a long-term mechanism of youth exchanges, said the Chinese official.

The two sides will attract young people from both countries to participate in various bilateral cooperative projects and activities in a bid to set up a multi-layer network of youth exchanges.

Education exchanges served as a crucial part of China-Russia humanities cooperation, said the vice minister. A bilateral people- to-people exchanges guideline indicated that both sides decided to increase the number of exchange students, which will encourage young people to study in the other country.

Hao noted that the number of exchange students would reach 100, 000 by 2020, including 50,000 Chinese students in Russia and 50, 000 Russians in China.

Exchange students from China will further their studies in science, technology, culture, language and art in Russia, he said.

Hao is on a visit to Russia to attend the 13th session of the China-Russia Committee on Humanities Cooperation.