Baseball tournament headlines cross-Strait exchange event in China

SHENZHEN, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) -- The finals of the Cross-Strait Student Baseball League tournament opened on Thursday in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, as part of a month-long event to promote exchanges between people from the Chinese mainland and Taiwan.

The finals have attracted the attendance of 1,060 baseball players of 43 teams, including 487 players of 19 teams from Taiwan.

The tournament is part of a cross-Strait exchange event scheduled from late November to late December, featuring a series of activities in culture, education, science and technology, sports and other aspects.

More than 10,000 people from the Chinese mainland and Taiwan are expected to attend the event, which is co-hosted by the cross-Strait exchange center of the State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office and a Taiwan-based foundation for cross-Strait peaceful development.

Long Mingbiao, executive vice president of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits, said that the event is a new platform for cross-Strait exchange and integration in the new era.

Young people from both sides of the Taiwan Strait are expected to take this opportunity to learn from each other, stand side by side and move forward together, fully demonstrating their youthful spirit and realizing their dreams, Long said.