CHINA will invite 100 Japanese students at Tokyo's Waseda University to visit China, President Hu Jintao said Thursday.

Hu, on a state visit to Japan, announced the plan while delivering a speech at Waseda University.

Hu Jintao said it would be part of the ongoing China-Japan Friendly Exchange Year of Youth, during which both countries will hold a series of activities in various forms with rich content.

"I hope that students here can join in the exchange project to visit China," Hu said.

"The youth should advance the world's civilization, bring happiness to human beings and contribute their youthful energy to mankind's prosperity," Hu said quoting Waseda alumnus Li Dazhao, China's revolutionary pioneer in the early 20th century.

"I had been engaged in a job which dealt with youth affairs for years, and I have special feelings for the youth," said Hu, who served as a member of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League of China (CYLC) and Chairman of the All-China Youth Federation in 1982-1984 and the first secretary of the Secretariat of the CYLC Central Committee in 1984-1985.

In the fall of 1984, 3,000 Japanese young people, the largest foreign group ever to visit China, came to China at the invitation of the Chinese Government. The visit was described as unprecedented in the history of China-Japan friendship.

Hu also made a five-point proposal on furthering the China-Japan strategic and mutually beneficial relations during his speech.

Hu stressed that China would continue progressing along the path of peaceful development, which was a strategic choice made by the Chinese Government and people, in Tokyo on Thursday.

Hu stressed that China would continue progressing along the path of peaceful development, which was a strategic choice made by the Chinese Government and people, in Tokyo on Thursday. (Xinhua)