Recent graduates' exhibition opens in Beijing

The 6th annual Digital Graduation Exhibition New Media Youth Exchange Week was launched on Tuesday at the Beijing Normal University.

The event attracted 33 newly graduated college students from Taiwan and more than 150 students from the mainland to present their micro-movies and other new-media works.

This is the first time that this cross-Straits cultural communication event is held on the Chinese mainland.

This year's event was co-organized by the All-China Federation of Taiwan Compatriots, Beijing Normal University, and the Taiwan-based International Chinese Youth Association D.C.C.

"This is a new platform for young people who devoted themselves to new media to communicate, and will build a solid foundation for the development of Chinese new media worldwide," said Liang Guoyang, head of the All-China Federation of Taiwan Compatriots. "They are the key influence to rejuvenate Chinese culture through new channels."

"This is a rare opportunity to get in touch with young pioneers in new media from Taiwan," said Li Jingwen, a student from the University of Science and Technology Beijing. "I really look forward to the thoughts and mutual learning in the following days, and hope we can cooperate to create some works."

Tonnies Chiu graduated from the Taipei-based China University of Technology this year. He then opened his own studio for animation and advertisement design.

"This is my first time in Beijing," said Chiu. "I want to learn about my compatriots' work. Our job needs continuous creativity and exchange of ideas with people from different backgrounds."

Scholars and leaders from the new media industry from both the mainland and Taiwan also participated in a seminar held in the university.

"It's great to see that young people from both sides of the Straits could put aside disagreements on political issues and reach a consensus and have common wishes for creativity in new media," said Xiao Yongliang, executive director of the Institute of Cultural and Creative Industry at the Beijing Normal University, who hosted the seminar.

"This will contribute to further communication in the cultural industry," Xiao said.

According to Benjamin Lee, head of the Chinese Youth Association D.C.C, though micro-movies were first created on the mainland, such works have seen a boom in Taiwan and are closely related to music videos and television advertisements, while young people on the mainland focus more on their non-commercial and artistic potential.

He expects the combination of the two different ways of looking at such works to give a new impetus to this new media channel, which has huge potential.

The delegates from Taiwan will also visit several schools and cultural institutions, including Peking University, Communication University of China, and the 798 Arts Zone.