A 400-member Chinese youth delegation left this morning for a eight-day visit to Germany.

The delegation, led by Lu Hao, the newly-elected first-secretary of the secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League of China, was the largest delegation sent to Europe by the All-China Youth Federation.

Its members included public servants, athletes, artists, scholars, teachers, journalists and university students.

Representatives of anti-quake heroes from western China's Sichuan, Gansu and Shaanxi provinces, as well as gold medalists and honored volunteers of the Beijing Olympics were also included in the delegation.

During the stay in Germany, the delegation, invited by Germany's Federal Minister for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, would visit government organizations, enterprises and schools in 16 German states.

The visit is part of the exchange program agreed by Chinese premier and German Chancellor in the hope of boosting mutual understanding between the two peoples. Some 400 German young people visited China last year.