EU-China Youth Leaders Summit

EU-China Youth Leaders Summit / Youth "Future Camp"
As the 2011 EU-China Year of Youth approaches its end, 200 EU and Chinese youth leaders gathered in Beijing to take stock of the outcomes of the Year and look at future challenges and opportunities.

EU-China Youth Leaders Summit Over 2.5 days, the young participants engaged in challenging talks about the role of young people in an ageing society, the development of EU-China relations in a multipolar world, climate change and sustainable development as well as youth entrepreneurship and business leadership for the future.

The outcomes of their lively and passionate discussions were summarised in a joint statement. Acknowledging the important role of the EU-China Year of Youth in fostering people-to-people contacts and friendship between young people from both sides, the youth leaders also put forward their recommendations on how to deepen these exchanges and how to develop EU-China relations further.

Their conclusions and recommendations were handed over at the closing of this last flagship event of the Year to Androulla Vassiliou, Member of the European Commission responsible for education, culture, multilingualism and youth, and Lu Yongzheng, Vice President of the All-China Youth Federation.

EU-China Youth Leaders Summit "The EU-China Year of Youth has given us the chance to deepen dialogue and cooperation in many different areas. Now we have a joint responsibility to build on its achievements and take them forward" - said Commissioner Vassiliou recalling that people-to-people contacts are playing an increasingly prominent role in EU-China relations and that this will be reflected in a new High-Level Dialogue to be launched soon.