Joint Action Plan on the Europe-China Year of Youth 2011 between the European Commission and the All China Youth Federation

Recalling the conclusions of the 12th EU-China summit, held in Nanjing on 30 November 2009, which issued a Joint Statement designating 2011 as the Europe-China Year of Youth with a view to further promoting and deepening partnership between the EU and China;

Taking into account the conclusions of the first EU-China Youth Leaders summit held at the EU Pavilion at the Shanghai Expo on 10 May 2010, which issued a Joint Statement on ideas for activities for the Year of Youth;

Noting that exchanges and cooperation among young people, youth leaders and youth organisations are a key channel to strengthen people-to-people contacts, mutual tolerance, intercultural awareness and solidarity beyond borders, as well as to promote youth activities and establish networks and long-lasting partnerships in the field of youth;

The European Commission and the All China Youth Federation have expressed the following intentions related to a joint action plan for the 2011 Europe-China Year of Youth.

1. Objectives

The 2011 Europe-China 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.

Furthermore, considering that 2011 will also be the European Year of Volunteering, the Europe-China Year of Youth should also contribute to promoting joint voluntary activities between European and Chinese youth.

2. Categories of Activities

In order to achieve these objectives, various activities should be undertaken on both sides, divided into the following main categories: flagship events in Europe and China, partnership projects, youth highlight programmes and visibility activities.

3. Content of Activities

Flagship Events in Europe should include an official opening ceremony, the European Youth Week and an event on youth volunteering. Flagship Events in China should include official opening and closing ceremonies, Europe-China Youth Culture Week and a Europe-China Youth Festival.
Partnership projects should consist of joint grassroots initiatives and projects aimed at developing cooperation and partnership between European and Chinese youth organisations, such as voluntary projects, youth exchanges, seminars, trainings, networking activities, etc. Both sides will mobilise their respective instruments to provide support to such projects.
Youth highlight programmes will aim at promoting a policy dialogue in the field of youth as well as a focus on youth within existing policy dialogues in other areas relevant to youth, such as education, culture, multilingualism, employment.
Visibility activities will aim at promoting the Year of Youth throughout Europe and China through the most relevant channels on each side.

The envisaged activities shall cover areas of common interest such as volunteering, youth participation, youth work development, education, culture, employment and entrepreneurship, innovation and creativity.
Mobilisation of stakeholders and partners at all levels from both sides leading to additional activities at national/regional/provincial/local level may be another important component of the Year.
In principle, each side should bear their own international travel costs of participation in jointly organised flagship events, whereas local costs should be borne by the hosting side. The implementation of the above activities will be subject to the availability of financial resources on both sides.
The above provisions express political intent and are not designed to create legally binding commitments.
This action plan is signed in Brussels on 6 October 2010 in the English and Chinese languages, both texts being identical.