<p>"I am very optimistic about China-India relations this year, the Year of the Rabbit," Zhang said at an event here yesterday to mark the Lantern Festival, last day of the Chinese New Year.<br /><br />"Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's successful visit to India in December has set the stage for enhanced ties between our two nations," he said.<br /><br />"I am sure that the Year of the Rabbit will bring more prosperity and development for the people of the countries," Zhang said without referring to the differences between them.<br /><br />In the Chinese zodiac, the rabbit is fourth in a cycle of 12 animals that represent each Chinese New Year, with the Year of the Rabbit falling between February 3, 2011 to January 22, 2012. The rabbit, occupying the fourth position in the Chinese zodiac, symbolises happiness and good fortune, he noted.<br /><br />Zhang said China will invite 500 Indian youth to visit the country this year to enhance the people-to-people understanding. More exchanges will also be organised between various sectors of the society, including political parities and journalists, he said.<br /><br />China will also hold a Sichuan-India Week in April which will showcase the fast-developing western Chinese province to the Indian people. Sichuan cuisine is already popular in India.<br /><br />"It will be another opportunity to bring the peoples of China and India together," he said.<br /><br />At the Lantern Festival event, Unity International, a non-profit organisation, released a special supplement on Tibet after a five-member delegation from the group, visited the remote Himalayan region in September last year.<br /><br />"Very few people have written about Tibet, dismissing it as a sparsely populated region with inhospitable conditions. However, during our visit, we found that life in Tibet was not drab at all," R N Anil, Secretary General of Unity International, who led the delegation, said.<br /><br />"Tibet is on the threshold of an important moment of transformation," he said, adding that the delegation saw eye- catching socio-economic growth in the region, which is one of the world's most inhospitable area.</p>
<p>"I am very optimistic about China-India relations this year, the Year of the Rabbit," Zhang said at an event here yesterday to mark the Lantern Festival, last day of the Chinese New Year.<br /><br />"Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's successful visit to India in December has set the stage for enhanced ties between our two nations," he said.<br /><br />"I am sure that the Year of the Rabbit will bring more prosperity and development for the people of the countries," Zhang said without referring to the differences between them.<br /><br />In the Chinese zodiac, the rabbit is fourth in a cycle of 12 animals that represent each Chinese New Year, with the Year of the Rabbit falling between February 3, 2011 to January 22, 2012. The rabbit, occupying the fourth position in the Chinese zodiac, symbolises happiness and good fortune, he noted.<br /><br />Zhang said China will invite 500 Indian youth to visit the country this year to enhance the people-to-people understanding. More exchanges will also be organised between various sectors of the society, including political parities and journalists, he said.<br /><br />China will also hold a Sichuan-India Week in April which will showcase the fast-developing western Chinese province to the Indian people. Sichuan cuisine is already popular in India.<br /><br />"It will be another opportunity to bring the peoples of China and India together," he said.<br /><br />At the Lantern Festival event, Unity International, a non-profit organisation, released a special supplement on Tibet after a five-member delegation from the group, visited the remote Himalayan region in September last year.<br /><br />"Very few people have written about Tibet, dismissing it as a sparsely populated region with inhospitable conditions. However, during our visit, we found that life in Tibet was not drab at all," R N Anil, Secretary General of Unity International, who led the delegation, said.<br /><br />"Tibet is on the threshold of an important moment of transformation," he said, adding that the delegation saw eye- catching socio-economic growth in the region, which is one of the world's most inhospitable area.</p>