A monument to Esperanto was erected in Beijing's Chaoyang Park on Tuesday in the presence of nearly 100 Esperantists from over 50 countries and regions in the world.

The marble monument, 2.6 meters high and 1.4 meters wide, is inscribed with "Esperanto Forest" in Esperanto and Chinese on the front side, and a brief history of Esperanto's evolution and the opening and closing dates of the ongoing 89th International Esperanto Conference on the back.

"This monument will be considered an eternal souvenir of the current International Esperanto Conference, marking the vitality of Esperanto as well as Chinese Esperantists' love of the language. Meanwhile, it also shows the great importance stressed by the Chinese government to Esperanto," said Zhou Mingwei, deputy director of Foreign Languages Publishing and Distribution Administration.

Esperanto was created by Polish doctor L. L. Zamenhof in 1887 and introduced to China in the early 20th century.

The annual international conference on Esperanto is the second of its kind hosted in China.

(Xinhua News Agency July 28, 2004)