国际英语新闻：Christian Wulff takes office as Germany's youngest president

BERLIN, July 2 (Xinhua) -- Christian Wulff was sworn into office Friday as Germany's 10th and youngest president ever, vowing to build connections between different parts of society and implement tough rules on financial markets.

The 51-year-old Wulff, a deputy leader of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU),was elected to the largely ceremonial position Wednesday after three rounds of secret voting by the Federal Assembly. In the first two ballots, Wulff failed to win an absolute majority.

In his inaugural speech, the former Lower Saxony state premier said he was“fully aware of the responsibility that comes with taking this office."

"For me, it will be important to build a bridge in our society: between the old and young, people from the East and the West, native and immigrants, employers, employees and the jobless,” Wulff said.

A poll released Friday by German public television ARD showed that 72 percent of those interviewed expect Wulff to be a "good" president.

Surveys before the election indicated that most Germans favored Wulff’s main opponent Joachim Gauck, who had been nominated by the opposition Social Democrats (SPD) and the Green party.

The work of electing a new president started in early July after President Horst Koehler’s surprise resignation on May 31.