Ｌａｕｎｃｈｉｎｇ Ｃｅｒｅｍｏｎｙ ｆｏｒ ６０ Ｒｕｓｓｉａｎ Ｌｙｒｉｃｓ Ｈｅｌｄ

On April 2， the CPAFFC and the China-Russia Friendship Association (CRFA) held a ceremony to launch 60 Russian Lyrics， a Chinese-Russian bilingual collection of poems. Bai Lichen， vice chairman of the National Committee of the CPPCC; Chen Haosu， president of the CPAFFC and the CRFA; Li Hui， vice minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Zhu Yuli， adviser to the CRFA; Li Jianping， vice president of the CPAFFC; Liu Shu and Wang Fengxiang， vice presidents of the CRFA， as well as council members of the CRFA in Beijing; representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs， the academic circles， teachers and students of institutions of higher learning and middle schools， and the media in the capital， totaling about 200， attended the ceremony. Russian ambassador to China Sergey Razov and other diplomats of the Russian Embassy and representatives of Russian students studying in China were invited to the ceremony.

Liang Peilan and Zhang Weihua， widows of the late famous translators of Russian literature Ge Baoquan and Lan Man who had made significant contributions to popularizing Russian literature in China， and Gu Yunpu， professor of Peking University and well-known translator of Russian poems were present at the event.

60 Russian Lyrics was published during the Language Year initiated by the two countries to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Russia and the 60th anniversary of the founding of the CRFA. In his speech， President Chen Haosu said， Russian literature has had a profound and lasting influence on China. After the early 20th century when the Russian literary classics were introduced into China， they evoked strong repercussion in the hearts of the Chinese people and left us indelible impressions. He hoped， the newly published collection of poems will arouse young people’s interest in Russian classical poetry and set off another fervour in Russian literature.

In his speech， Ambassador Razov said， the book 60 Russian Lyrics published in Russian with Chinese translation will not only attract attention among professional scholars of Russian language， but also all devotees of lyrics， providing them an opportunity to further understand Russian literature. He believed the publication of the collection of poems would play an important role in strengthening the traditional friendship and mutual understanding between the people of the two countries.

Gao Mang， editor of the collection of poems， well- known writer， painter and adviser to the CRFA， briefed on the selection and editing of the book.

At the launching ceremony， Vice Chairman Bai Lichen presented the book to the Russian Embassy in China， while Vice Minister Li Hui to the National Library and the Capital Library， and President Chen Haosu to universities and middle schools in Beijing.

Several university and middle school students recited poems from the book at the ceremony.