7 November 2005 – The 107-member Chinese delegation from the All-China Youth Federation (ACYF), lead by Mr. Yang  Yue  Vice President of the ACYF, arrived on 6 November 2005 and will be in the country until 12 November 2005, upon the invitation of the National Youth Commission (NYC) of the Philippines. According to the Philippine Embassy in Beijing the visit implements the NYC-ACYF Cooperation on Youth Affairs signed during the state visit of Chinese President Hu Jintao to the Philippines in April 2005 and the Memorandum of Understanding to cultivate youth exchanges signed during the visit to China of a 114 Filipino youth delegation in July 2005.

The exchange of youth delegations expands the dimensions of the activities commemorating the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Republic of the Philippines and the People’s Republic of China, by facilitating interaction among young leaders, entrepreneurs, professionals and students.

The Philippine Embassy has noted an encouraging series of visits by the NYC and the ACYF officials this year. At the heels of the April 2005 state visit of President Hu Jintao and to mark three decades of Philippines-China diplomatic relations, the ACYF pledged a financial grant of US$50,000 to build a Filipino-Sino Youth Friendship Village under the Gawad Kalinga Program,.

According to Philippine Ambassador to Beijing Ambassador Willy C. Gaa, the program of the youth delegation from China includes courtesy calls on national and provincial government officials, a city tour of Manila and familiarization trips to several provinces throughout the country.

The ACYF is a non-governmental umbrella organization for all the youth organizations in China. It is an organization embodying all youth groups, having the Communist Youth League of China at the top. END