FORTY-NINE undergraduate students from 20 Australian universities, which are part of a Sino-Australia cultural exchange program, visited Shenzhen during the weekend.
It was the second time Australian students had visited Shenzhen following a trip last July, after Premier Wen Jiabao’s visit to Australia in April 2006, in which he suggested establishing an exchange program to promote understanding between young people from China and Australia.
The student group visited the city’s tallest building Diwang Mansion in Luohu District, the Children’s Palace in Futian and China Folk Culture Villages in Overseas Chinese Town in Nanshan yesterday.
John Taplin, a psychology professor and vice chancellor of the University of Adelaide, said the visiting students were particularly interested in the city’s labor market and high-tech industry.
“Benefiting from open-door policy adopted in late 1970s, Shenzhen as a city developed overnight and thus created numerous opportunities for young people. It’s also one of the most favorable cities for Australian youth. We expect to have a fruitful exchange in the city’s labor market and high-tech industry with local authorities, enabling us to have further cooperation in the future,” said Taplin.
Shenzhen is the final leg of the weeklong China tour for the Australian student group.
The students had visited Sichuan Province last week. They took in the Dujiangyan irrigation system which dates back 2,200 years, the giant panda breeding base in Wolong, among other sites.
Alison Collier, a student of the University of Western Australia, said that the one-week tour had enabled her to understand China better.
“Shenzhen is as modern as many of its Western counterparts. It’s amazing to see such a metropolis after a merely two-hour flight from Chengdu, home to those splendid and well-preserved traditional Chinese cultural heritages,” said Collier.