Logo of 2011 EU-China Year of Youth
In November 2009, European Commission President Barroso and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao declared 2011 as the EU-China Year of Youth at the 12th EU-China summit in Nanjing.
Further to it, in October 2010, Androulla Vassiliou, EU Commissioner for Youth, and Lu Yongzheng, Vice President of the All-China Youth Federation, signed a joint action plan for the EU-China Year of Youth, which defined a general framework for the year, aiming to promote and deepen partnership between Europe and China by strengthening people-to-people links and cooperation in various fields.
According to the agreements, both parties will put into action a policy dialogue with regular exchanges on youth-related issues including voluntary activities, youth employment and entrepreneurship, youth involvement in society, and youth career development.
The joint declaration complements previous accords in education and vocational training (2007), culture (2007) and multilingualism (2009).
To achieve the envisaged goals of the 2011 youth dialogue, seminars, workshops and expert meetings will be jointly organized over the year in China and Europe. A series of themed interactive programs is gearing up for extensive youth participation in such events as international volunteering, knowledge contest, bycicle race and television features.
The Year of Youth shall be an occasion to:
promote intercultural dialogue and strengthen mutual understanding and friendship between European and Chinese youth;
encourage young people to care about and support the development of EU-China relations;
achieve extensive and positive impact in Europe and China and help ensure that cooperation between policy makers as well as between youth organizations is sustainable beyond 2011.
The Year of Youth will be launched with an official opening ceremony in Brussels on January 11, 2011.
