On May 22, 2025, the Award Ceremony for the "Panda Cup" Essay Contest on South Korean Youth's Perception of China and the "Facing the Future" China-Japan-South Korea Exchange Event were held at Shandong University, Weihai. Liu Dawei, Deputy Director of the China International Publishing Group (CIPG),Cao Xianqiang, Vice President of Shandong University,and Ma Qi, Member of the Party Committee and Deputy General Manager of Qingdao Publishing Group, attended the event and delivered speeches. Dai Bing, Chinese Ambassador to South Korea, delivered a speech via video.
Liu Dawei stated that continuously deepening, innovating, and pragmatically carrying out people-to-people exchanges among Chinese, Japanese, and South Korean youth is not only conducive to promoting mutual understanding and trust but also holds profound significance for the development of Asia and beyond. Centering on the era's proposition of "how Chinese, Japanese, and South Korean youth can work together to shoulder the future of East Asia",he proposed that consensus should be built on the foundation of civilizational genes to solidify public opinion,pragmatic cooperation should be used to address changes and solve the challenges of the times,and the power of youth should be harnessed to jointly draw a blueprint for the future of East Asia.
Dai Bing expressed that youth are the future of their countries and the future of China-South Korea relations. The steady and long-term development of bilateral relations cannot be achieved without mutual understanding, recognition, and support from the youth of both countries. He hoped that Chinese and South Korean youth would establish a correct understanding of China-South Korea relations, strengthen their confidence in the development of these relations, and promote greater progress in mutually beneficial cooperation between China and South Korea.
Cao Xianqiang stated that Shandong University is deeply implementing its "internationalization strategy" and striving to contribute Shandong University's strength to promoting prosperity and stability in Northeast Asia and building an open and inclusive Northeast Asian educational community. He hoped that Chinese, Japanese, and South Korean youth would shoulder the responsibility of promoting future cooperation and development among the three countries and contribute to creating a bright future for East Asia characterized by "win-win cooperation, harmonious coexistence, and shared prosperity of civilizations."
Ma Qi indicated that Qingdao Publishing Group has long been committed to the international dissemination of Chinese culture and the exchange and mutual learning between Chinese and foreign civilizations. In the future, the group will continue to use culture as a bond to deepen exchanges and cooperation with various sectors in Japan and South Korea, facilitate people-to-people exchanges and integration, and jointly promote cultural exchanges between China, Japan, and South Korea to deeper levels and broader fields.
Participating guests exchanged views and reached a consensus around the keyword "youth exchanges." Lee Hee-sup, Secretary-General of the Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat (TCS); Miyamoto Yuji, former Japanese Ambassador to China and Vice Chairman of the Japanese Steering Committee of the "Beijing-Tokyo Forum"; and Liu Changming, Dean of the School of Northeast Asia Studies,Shandong University, delivered keynote speeches. They emphasized that youth, as the future of their countries, inheritors of civilizations, and pioneers of change, hold the key to resolving regional development dilemmas and building a community with a shared future for mankind through cross-cultural dialogue and the collision of ideas.
During the event, the Award Ceremony for the "Panda Cup" Essay Contest on South Korean Youth's Perception of China was held. With the theme of "My Story with China",the contest selected five grand prize winners, five excellence award winners, and ten encouragement award winners after evaluation.
Following the award ceremony, scholars in the field of China-Japan-South Korea cooperation research conducted discussions on "China-Japan-South Korea cooperation innovation and future prospects under the new situation".In the first session on "China-Japan-South Korea in the New Global Situation",scholars analyzed the impact of the evolving global political and economic landscape on the relations among the three countries from multiple dimensions and proposed innovative solutions. The second sessionwith the topic of "China-Japan-South Korea innovative cooperation and future prospects",focused on the context of the technological revolution and industrial transformation, emphasizing the cooperation potential in fields such as automotive, energy, and the digital economy, and jointly exploring new opportunities for the future development of the three countries.
During the event, South Korean youth and student representatives from Shandong University visited technological, cultural and industrial sites in Weihai to experience firsthand the vibrant vitality of China's high-quality economic and social development. Both sides also shared and exchanged ideas on the theme of "AI and the Future: How Chinese and South Korean Youth Can Collaborate and Innovate".
This event was jointly organized by the School of Northeast Asia Studies,Shandong University, the Asia-Pacific Communication Center of the China International Publishing Group, and Qingdao Publishing Group. It is dedicated to building an important platform for Chinese, Japanese, and South Korean youth to enhance understanding, learn from each other, promote exchanges, consolidate people-to-people friendship, and increase mutual understanding.
