Zhou Qiang, who is also the Executive President of China National Committee for International Year of Volunteer (IYV) 2001,said at the First International Conference on Voluntary Service which opened in Beijing Monday that China had formed a network of young volunteers organizations across the country.

Zhou said young people had become the driving force for voluntary service, serving society and improving their personal development as well.

According to Zhou, 10,015 young people had participated in voluntary programs to help the poor in 207 counties, offering services in the fields of education, health, science and technology, since 1996.

At the same time, more than one million volunteers from universities have provided regular assistance to more than 2.5 million elderly and handicapped people, orphans and families in difficulties in "One-to-One" long-term service.

Zhou said it had become a common practice in all parts of Chinafor young volunteers to provide voluntary service for large-scale events, rescue and relief work.

Voluntary service had become an important field for China to carry out exchanges and cooperation with various countries and international organizations, said Zhou, adding that China had sentrepresentatives to western Europe and northern Europe and southeast Asia.

He added that China had also invited volunteers from dozens of countries to carry out environmental protection, poverty relief and community service, and implemented the Young Volunteers Overseas Service Program aimed to recruit Chinese young volunteersin the construction of other developing countries.

The voluntary service undertaking of China and the voluntary spirit contained in it embodied the Chinese people's traditional virtues of taking pleasure in helping others and supporting the poor and aiding those in peril, but also satisfying the needs of China's reform and opening up and the development of the socialistmarket economy, said Zhou.

(Xinhua News Agency May 27, 2002)