Japanese Foreign Ministry welcomed yesterday a team of 250
Chinese high school students in Tokyo, who will begin their
nine-day exchange tour in Japan.
"Exchanges between Japanese and Chinese people, especially those
between the juniors who shoulder the future, are very important,"
Yasuhisa Shiozaki, senior Japanese vice minister for foreign
affairs said at the welcoming ceremony.
Shiozaki said that he hoped the teenage students can know more
about Japan and make Japanese friends during their tour in several
Japanese prefectures including Yamagata, Akita, Aomori, Kanagawa
and Tochigi.
"It is of great significance to promote all kinds of exchanges
between the two countries when the bilateral relations are in
difficulty," Kong Xuanyou, acting ambassador for Chinese Embassy in
Japan said. He expressed his hope that the tour can contribute to
enlarging youth exchanges and improving friendship with Japan.
The students, from various parts of China including Beijing,
Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Gansu, Shaanxi, Hebei and Hubei, arrived
in Japan Monday, under a high school student exchange program
between Japan and China.
According to the program, a total of 1,100 Chinese students will
visit Japan, stay with Japanese families and attend exchanging
activities with their Japanese counterparts. This group is the
second batch of such exchange tours.?
(Xinhua News Agency August 23, 2006)
