Evergreen envoys of friendship, prosperity

The EU-China Year of Youth presents a golden opportunity for the younger generation to improve understanding by abandoning bias and stereotypes.

I'm excited to attend this opening ceremony for the EU-China Year of Youth, and witness this important moment that will surely go down in the history of China-EU relations.

The Year of Youth is the first theme year event jointly organized by China and the European Union, and this landmark event will open up a new chapter for our people-to-people exchanges.

Over the last 35 years since we established diplomatic ties, cooperation between China and the EU has demonstrated huge progress both in terms of quality and quantity. With economic and trade cooperation yielding substantial returns, China and the EU have become each other's most important trading partner. Underpinning such strong ties is our ever-growing political mutual trust, evidenced by frequent high-level visits and closer coordination on international affairs. So today China and the EU are more than just trading partners. We are also strategic partners who share a similar destiny, rise to the common challenges, and work together for a prosperous future.

At this time, when China and the EU are both in the key stage of development, our comprehensive, strategic, and mutually beneficial cooperation is increasingly picking up momentum from a new historical starting point. Whether this momentum can be sustained and grow from strength to strength will depend on whether or not we can gather understanding and support from our peoples. In this connection, people-to-people exchanges have an irreplaceable role in ensuring that our bilateral ties will fulfill their historical mission and bring durable benefits to both peoples.

Youth represent the most dynamic element in people-to-people exchanges, because they are the ones to create the future. Both leaderships strongly support and have high expectations for this Year of Youth event. Behind the major political decision to launch such a large-scale program are the strategic visions of our leaders and their ardent wish that efforts like this will increase mutual understanding and friendship between our younger generations.

In my view, young people shoulder an important responsibility to promote the healthy, sustainable and long-term growth of China-EU ties. There are three areas where I think youth can make a difference.

To begin with, young people can invigorate and extend the boundaries of China-EU relations. China and Europe differ greatly in terms of history, culture and traditions. However, such differences are superseded by certain similarities when it comes to our younger generation - who are full of passion, vigor and creativity. As advocates of global trends and forerunners of the future, they are the powerhouse for technology innovation, economic development and social progress. In the future, we hope to see more young people becoming active in developing China-EU ties with new ideas and innovative thinking.

Furthermore, young people can contribute to cultural innovation and the common progress of human civilization. Home to ancient civilizations, China and Europe are able to provide their youth with some of the finest ancient oriental and Western cultural heritage. We expect young people to have a heart open to different cultures, domestic and foreign, traditional and modern. With their capacity to learn and willingness to communicate, they will be able to combine the merits of different cultures for innovation, and build a new bridge of dialogue between China and Europe. Our hope is that they promote a world where all civilizations can achieve common progress, and their efforts to deliver this goal will undoubtedly consolidate popular support for future China-EU ties.

Last but not least, young people, in friendship, are capable of going beyond differences. The Internet has made our world a global village, giving us all kinds of choices to stay connected. Such favorable conditions put youth in a better position to respect, understand and appreciate different people and cultures. I always think of young people as "lubricant", as they can learn from others and approach their differences with an open mind and an inclusive heart, in politics, business, culture, and all other sectors of society. The young can break free from the old ways of thinking and abandon bias and stereotypes, with the young as envoys of lifelong friendship across generations, I'm confident that all of the differences and misgivings between us will be finally replaced by trust and agreements, and China-EU relations will definitely stand the test of time.

As we head into the second decade of the 21st century, we are also stepping into a world of major changes and adjustments. Peace, development and cooperation have become an irresistible trend of the times. Multipolarization, interdependence, science and technology development, and global and regional cooperation are the prime imprints of our age. Our future belongs to the younger generation, but it also defines them. What will happen in the next 10 years carries great significance. China-EU ties offer immense opportunities for growth. The young have all the reasons to live up to the expectation and fully realize the potential of China-EU friendship and cooperation. For the future, I expect greater success in people-to-people exchanges between China and Europe. The EU-China Year of Youth event is a golden opportunity to contribute to the comprehensive strategic partnership.

To conclude, I wish the friendship tree between the Chinese and European young people be evergreen, and I wish the EU-China Year of Youth a crowning success!

The author is China's ambassador to the EU. This article is based on his speech made at the opening ceremony for the EU-China Year of Youth on Jan 11.