A 100-member Chinese young people left Beijing on Thursday for a 10-day visit to Britain at the invitation of the British Council.

Led by Ni Jian, assistant president the All-China Youth Federation, the delegation, formed under the theme of "Youth and community development," is mainly comprised of local government representatives.

They will visit community organizations in London, Glasgow and Edinburgh to meet experts in areas such as youth and community development, cultural innovation, environment, healthy living and business.

The visit is part of a youth exchange mechanism agreed by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown in January 2008.

The All-China Youth Federation and the British Council launched the Sino-British 400-Youth Exchange Project to promote exchanges from 2008 to 2010, involving 400 young people from each side.

The first group of 100 British young people visited China in the autumn of 2008, and the Chinese delegation is the first reciprocal visit.

(Xinhua News Agency June 25, 2009)