A group of 40 Chinese high school students were welcomed
Thursday in Tokyo by Japanese government officials and friendship
organizations, before they start a month-long exchange program in
Japan.
The program will "enhance mutual understandings between the
youths of the two countries," Akie Abe, wife of Prime Minister
Shinzo Abe, said at the ceremony. She said she hoped the young
visitors can learn more about Japan in the coming month and
meanwhile introduce China to Japanese local residents.
Tokyo and Beijing have arranged several batches of high school
students to visit each other based on their youth exchange program.
"The exchanges have brought positive effects among the youth,"
Minister-Counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Japan Kong Xuanyou
said, expressing the hope that the exchanges can boost
understandings and friendship.
Japanese Senior Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Katsuhito
Asano and Japan-China Friendship Center chairman Yoshiro Hayashi
also attended the welcoming ceremony hosted by the Japan
Foundation.
The high school students, from various parts of China including
Heilongjiang, Hunan, Shaanxi, Inner Mongolia, Tianjin, Chongqing,
arrived in Tokyo on Wednesday. They are scheduled to visit 15 local
high schools in different parts of Japan such as Hokkaido, Osaka
and Miyagi, and stay with common Japanese families.
(Xinhua News Agency February 1, 2007)
