Europe-China Year of Youth 2011

The European Commissioner for Youth, Mrs Androulla Vassiliou, and the Vice-President of the All China Youth Federation, Mr Lu Yongzheng, have signed a joint action plan for the Europe-China Year of Youth 2011.

The joint action plan sets a general framework for the development of joint activities in the context of the 2011 Europe-China Year of Youth.

2011 was declared the Europe-China Year of Youth at the 12th EU-China Summit held in Nanjing in November 2009.

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.

In order to achieve these objectives, various activities are envisaged, including several flagship events in Europe and China, joint grassroots projects, policy dialogue in the youth field and on youth-related issues in other fields and visibility activities.

The joint action plan also underlines the importance of a strong mobilisation of young people, youth organisations and other actors active in the youth field for a wider impact of the Year at all levels.

The Year of Youth will be launched with an official opening ceremony on 11 January 2011 in Brussels.