At China's elite Peking University, China and Russia's top leaders Tuesday placed their hopes of maintaining good-neighborly friendship on the countries' youth.

"The future of China, of Russia, and of the world, rests on the younger generations," Chinese President Jiang Zemin said while accompanying his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in delivering a speech to over 600 students and faculty from the century-old academy.

"Russia and China are both faced with tremendous tasks in the 21st century, which are bound to be shouldered by the younger generations," echoed Putin.

Putin became the first ever Russian head of state to visit the university as he stepped into the school's 1926-built archaistic auditorium ringing with Russian melodies.

The presidents' appearance brought waves of applause, to which the 50-year-old Putin responded with his trademark demure smile.

Addressing the audience, Jiang said it is the younger generation, after all, who will take over and further develop the Sino-Russian good-neighborly friendship and the friendship among the world's people.

The Chinese people, from time immemorial, have always valued the notion of "being friendly to the neighbors," Jiang said, stressing both countries should conform to the trend of times, and grasp the historic opportunity to build an even brighter future for bilateral relations.

"On the young people rest the country's future and the world's hope," Jiang admonished the youth. "Seeing so many students here to attend President Putin's speech, I can envision the brilliant prospects of Sino-Russian friendship."

Putin said in the past century, both Russia and China have undergone profound social reforms and withstood the tests of time, and today they are again facing identical or similar tasks in many areas.

"One generation plants the trees in whose shade another generation rests," Putin said, noting the seedlings of friendship planted by the two nations have already grown into towering big trees, and the younger generations should build on their forefathers' achievements to benefit the two peoples.

In response to a question raised by 21-year-old Fan Yingchuan from the Russian language department, Putin said that regarding his attitudes toward the Chinese culture, both of his daughters are learning Chinese martial arts and one is even starting to learn Chinese.

"If a 16-year-old Russian girl is learning Chinese of her own will, that itself is a strong demonstration of the young Russian's increasing interest in China. And that has also offered me a very good channel to know more about the country."

Fan, just back from a one-year study in Russia, said she had personally experienced the greatness of the Russian culture.

"I've decided to continue my study and choose China-Russia cultural exchange as my future career," she said.

Maria is a 21-year-old Russian girl who just began a Chinese course in Peking University three months ago.

"I'm very much interested in ancient Chinese philosophy and trying to figure out what it's about," she said. "It also surprised me that some of the students here can even recite verses of Pushkin and know Tolstoy very well. We are benefiting from each other's culture."

"To ensure our good relations are carried on to future generations, we must embark on a 'friendship relay' starting right now," said Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov.

According to Peking University President Xu Zhihong, cooperation and exchanges between his university and Moscow University have seen a sharp increase in recent years. He expressed belief that the two sides will, as always, join hands in nurturing talents for the society.

(Xinhua News Agency December 4, 2002)