An advanced program for international youth leaders debuted in September 2002 at the Institute and has continued on an annually-held basis ever since. This is a program co-sponsored by the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League of China and the Guangxi Committee of the Communist Youth League of China and aiming to further promote friendship and mutual trust among the younger generations, to foster lasting peace between China and its neighboring countries and to push forward the ties of friendship and cooperation among different countries.
On September 30,2004 the Beijing Declaration for ASEAN(Association of Southeast Asian Nations)-China Cooperation on Youth and Joint Work Plan for the First ASEAN-China Ministerial Meeting on Youth were adopted at the First China-ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Youth held in Beijing, China. It is further endorsed in the Joint Work Plan that as of 2005 an advanced training program for ASEAN young leaders will be initiated at the Institute on an annual basis with , ten young leaders from each ASEAN country to be selected each year by their governments to attend the program for one academic year. While China is responsible for addressing such specific matters as students selection criteria, training arrangements as well as other related activities to be held at the Institute, ASEAN officials on youth affairs will play their role in the program by coordinating in the selection of candidates from their respective countries.
Courses scheduled in the Advanced Program , among other things, include Chinese language study, China Overview, Chinese culture, China's economic reforms and development, youth work in China and theories on youth work,etc. During their attendance participants will spend about two weeks in Beijing on a study tour, in addition to other study tours in Guangxi and in cities in China's economically developed Southeastern coastal areas. Various seminars and get-together parties with local young people will also be included in these tours.
Officials from the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League of China,the Guangxi Committee of the Communist Party of China and the People's Government of Guangxi and the Guangxi Committee of the Communist Youth League of China have attached great importance to the Advance Program as they have been paying regular visits to the Institute, where during their talks with the participants they often inquire about their studies and campus life.
The Institute, on its part, makes all conditions available to the participants so that they can gain a both extensive and intensive knowledge about China,particularly Guangxi, the place where they are studying by exposing themselves as much as they can to the Chinese society. In addition to the delivery of a diversified classroom schedule, arrangements are also made from time to time for the participants either to attend various important events, local and national alike, or to visit places outside their campus,such as enterprises and/or famous tourist destinations both in Guangxi and the rest of China,and in Guangxi in particular.
It is a strong conviction of the Institute that by attending the Advanced Program for International Youth Leaders, participants will be helped to make their dynamic contributions to the exchanges and cooperation between China and ASEAN countries, to the further prosperity in business and trade between China and ASEAN countries, to the greater progress in the youth work in their respective countries and to the fostering of ever stronger friendship among the young people from all countries.