(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-03-15 16:47

BEIJING  -- Some 2,000 Chinese and Japanese youth celebrated here Saturday afternoon the opening ceremony of the China-Japan Friendly Exchange Year of the Youth, marking the official launch of a year-long youth exchange program.

Chinese President Hu Jintao met with principal members of the 1,000-strong Japanese delegation at Renmin University in Beijing and is expected to attend the ceremony later this afternoon.

The China-Japan Friendly Exchange Year of the Youth was created last year by China Premier Wen Jiabao and Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda when the two met over lunch in Singapore at the Asian Summit in November. A MOU on the exchange year was signed during Fukuda's China visit in December.

It also marks the 30th anniversary of the signing of the China-Japan Peace and Friendship Treaty.

A series of youth exchange activities will be conducted over the course of the year in the fields of culture, academia, environmental protection, science and technology, media, tourism, film and television.