Chinese, Japanese Pupils Work for Environmental ProtectionAbout 300 Chinese and Japanese pupils gathered at the Chongwen Primary School of Beijing in a joint effort to promote knowledge about environmental protection and to mark World Earth Day Sunday.Pupils from some 100 primary schools in the Chinese capital and Japanese pupils from Japanese-run schools in Beijing exhibited their cartoon pictures and performed acts concerning environmental protection. Sunday's activity is part of the "Hand in Hand for Our Global Village Program," the Japanese Grassroots Project-aided program launched in 1997. So far, Japan has assisted more than 200 primary schools in Beijing and neighboring Hebei Province with wastes-collection equipment. Currently, about 100,000 pupils in Beijing and their peers in 200 primary schools in other parts of the country have participated in the activities of the program. They have used the money they collected from selling the wastes to build four schools in China's poverty-stricken areas. Initiated by the Japanese government, the Grassroots Project provides aid to developing countries in an effort to improve their medical and educational facilities. It has so far launched some 300 projects in China over the past decade. |
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