The largest Japan-China youth gathering took place 23 years ago, but Jia Di'e, China Federation of Youth's deputy secretary-general and a former member of the Chinese reception party, can still recognize people from that Japanese delegation.

"In 1984, I interacted with 51 members who are part of the current 220-member visiting group," Jia said yesterday. "And if you count the children of those who had visited China 23 years ago, the number would be nearly 80."

President Hu Jintao, then first secretary to the Communist Youth League, sent Jia to Japan three times to attend talks on the 1984 gathering.

Jia was present at a forum, "Learning the New by Restudying the Old, Passing Down the Sino-Japanese Friendship", held at Beijing's Sino-Japanese Youth Exchange Center yesterday. Among the others present were the new visiting China-Japan friendship group, members of the 1984 Chinese reception party and representatives of the Chinese government, friendship organizations and students.

"I got extremely excited hearing about your second visit," Jia told his Japanese friends, trying to control his emotions.

The friendship delegation arrived in Beijing on Monday on the last leg of its weeklong visit to China. The team has already been to Shanghai and Northwest China's Gansu Province.

"Today's youth has the power to carry the torch of Sino-Japanese friendship and civil exchange and hand it down to the next generation," said Hu Chunhua, Communist Youth League first secretary.

Hu urged the youth of the two countries to participate in bilateral exchanges and shoulder the historical responsibility of boosting Sino-Japanese friendship from one generation to another.

Jia had received Okuyama Tadashi in 1984. The 85-year-old Tadashi is former director of a Tokyo-based news agency's board, and has visited China many times after that historic trip 23 years ago. His son Okuyama Takashi, 35, is part of the new delegation.

Tadashi may have handed the amity baton to his son, but he didn't miss the chance to visit China once again. So he is here too.

"I was deeply influenced by my father on the Sino-Japanese friendship," Takashi said. "When I was a child, many Chinese students used to visit our home."

Takashi, the present director of the news agency's board, has taken part in many programs on China-Japan friendship that range from tree planting to serving students.

"We often talk about the perspective of our relationship and believe we have a bright future," he said.

The delegation visited the Bird's Nest (the Olympic Stadium) and the Tian' anmen Square in Beijing before President Hu Jintao hosted a dinner for them on Tuesday evening.

They wrapped up the tour and left for Japan yesterday.

(China Daily 06/21/2007 page2)