September 21st, 2015

(From People’s Daily online) On Sept. 21, Ten thousand paper cranes from China to dance in Milan — the theme of ‘International Day of Peace’ co-hosted by Asia Pacific Exchange and Cooperation Foundation and the Organising Committee of ‘Power of dreams, a journey of love’ during EXPO Milano. Representatives from the United Nations and the European Union, politicians from Italy, Romania, Turkey and celebrities from economic, cultural and media industries of many countries will attend the event.

The event covered four major themes: art show, ceremony praying for peace, ‘Dialogue among civilisations, a journey of love’ forum and the World Peace Contribution Award ceremony.

Xiao Wunan, executive vice chairman of Asia Pacific Exchange and Cooperation Foundation, said, ‘when the Asia Pacific Exchange and Cooperation Foundation was established in 2010, our goal from the very beginning was to push forward the revival of Asia, and peace and development of the world through dialogue among civilisations. In March, the president of the UN Assembly held a special meeting decided to include resolve global conflicts through dialogue among civilisations as one of the important proposals in the post millenium development agenda.’

The organising committee of ‘Power of dreams, a journey of love’ will organise relevant Chinese public welfare NGOs, enterprises and individuals to attend the event, and ten thousand paper cranes collected from all walks of life of Chinese society will be presented at the ceremony to pray for world peace.

Wang Xingxian, executive director of the organising committee of ‘Power of dreams, a journey of love’, told reporters, ‘We spent a long time to choose a mascot to represent dream of peace.’ ‘Different nations, countries and regions all have their own mascots. Paper cranes are very ordinary symbols carrying people’s wishes, but it’s widely accepted. And people can make it by themselves. We collected ten thousand eight hundred paper cranes, these cranes carry ordinary people’s wishes, and a lot of them are from children.’

Sculpture ‘the Pure Existence of Gratitude’ by renowned artist Xu Xiaoyong is to be showcased at the ‘International Day of Peace’ theme event.