Song Jian, a senior Chinese official, left Beijing Monday for Ireland to attend the third meeting of the Group of Eminent Persons for UN Dialogue among Civilizations, scheduled for May 30-31 in Dublin.
Song, vice-chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), is attending the meeting at the invitation of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
Dialogue among different civilizations was proposed by President Seyyed Mohammad Khatami of Iran. In 1998, the UN Assembly passed a resolution to define year 2001 as "the UN Year for Dialogue among Civilizations".
Annan has invited 19 eminent persons from 18 countries to draft a report, which is to be submitted to the UN special assembly scheduled for December 3-4 this year.
Song Jian, a senior Chinese official, left Beijing Monday for Ireland to attend the third meeting of the Group of Eminent Persons for UN Dialogue among Civilizations, scheduled for May 30-31 in Dublin.