A group of 40 Chinese high school students were welcomed Thursday in Tokyo by Japanese government officials and friendship organizations, before they start a month-long exchange program in Japan.

The program will "enhance mutual understandings between the youths of the two countries," Akie Abe, wife of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, said at the ceremony. She said she hoped the young visitors can learn more about Japan in the coming month and meanwhile introduce China to Japanese local residents.

Tokyo and Beijing have arranged several batches of high school students to visit each other based on their youth exchange program. "The exchanges have brought positive effects among the youth," Minister-Counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Japan Kong Xuanyou said, expressing the hope that the exchanges can boost understandings and friendship.

Japanese Senior Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Katsuhito Asano and Japan-China Friendship Center chairman Yoshiro Hayashi also attended the welcoming ceremony hosted by the Japan Foundation.

The high school students, from various parts of China including Heilongjiang, Hunan, Shaanxi, Inner Mongolia, Tianjin, Chongqing, arrived in Tokyo on Wednesday. They are scheduled to visit 15 local high schools in different parts of Japan such as Hokkaido, Osaka and Miyagi, and stay with common Japanese families.

(Xinhua News Agency February 1, 2007)