Sponsored by the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC), the China International Friendship Cities Association (CIFCA), and the People's Government of Wuhan, undertaken by the Foreign Affairs Office of the Wuhan Municipal People's Government, the "2018 China International Friendship Cities Conference", was held in Wuhan from November 15th to 16th, 2018.
Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan attended the opening ceremony and delivered a keynote speech. Vice President of Uganda Edward Ssekandi, former Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and more than 300 foreign representatives from organizations from 125 provinces and cities of more than 60 countries, and 35 associations of municipalities, Mr. Jiang Chaoliang, secretary of the Hubei Provincial CPC Committee, Mr. Wang Xiaodong, governor of Hubei Province, Madame Li Xiaolin, president of the CPAFFC, Mr. Ma Guoqiang, secretary of the Wuhan Municipal CPC Committee, Mr. Zhou Xianwang, mayor of Wuhan, together with more than 300 Chinese delegates from 115 cities and districts in 31 provinces in China, totaling more than 700 people, attended the Conference.
At the opening ceremony, Vice President Ssekandi, former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, and President-designate of the Sister Cities International, USA, Carlo Robertson Lupezi, fully endorsed the Friendship Cities Conference, as a way to promote mutual understanding between countries and regions, also as an effective platform for strengthening local cooperation among countries.
Governor Wang Xiaodong and Secretary Ma Guoqiang also respectively gave a brief introduction to the situation in Hubei Province and Wuhan City, and expressed their strong desire to strengthen cooperation with the local governments of participating countries.
In the opening speech, President Li Xiaolin pointed out that since its founding in 1954, the CPAFFC has been making friends on the international stage on behalf of the Chinese people. We have established friendly and cooperative relations with 157 countries and more than 500 friendly organizations in the world. Entrusted by the Chinese Government, we have initiated the establishment of the China International Friendship Cities Association, which is responsible for the coordination and management of the establishment and development of friendship cities between China and other countries in the world.
At present, China has established 2566 pairs of friendship city relations with 136 countries on five continents. While encouraging Chinese and foreign regions and cities to make friends, we also actively build platforms for Chinese and foreign local government exchanges.
Madame Li stressed that as China's overall national strength continues to rise and China is gradually moving toward the center of the world stage, the willingness to strengthen exchanges and cooperation between Chinese and foreign regions and cities is constantly increasing. We are facing both new opportunities and new challenges. CPAFFC will continue to work with colleagues and friends from all over the world to build a beautiful home planet.
CPAFFC Vice President Xie Yuan presided over the opening ceremony and made concluding speech at the closing ceremony. Vice President Hu Sishe attended the Top Talk. and Vice President Lin Yi delivered a speech at the welcome dinner banquet.
Focusing on the practical needs of building a community with a shared future for mankind and the development of local governments, the conference will jointly explore the issues of urban modernization, internationalization, and ecology around the theme of "Sharing Development Opportunities and Deepening Win-win Cooperation." Share the advanced experience of friendship cities to promote common prosperity and development.
During the conference, a signing ceremony was held for the newly built friendship cities. The "Wuhan Initiative" was issued. and a commendation ceremony was held for the outstanding contributions made by the Chinese and foreign friendship cities in 2016-2017. The second China-Latin America Forum on Local Government Cooperation was also held at the same time.
The China International Friendship Cities Conference, which has been held every two years since 2008, has been held successively in Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Guangzhou and Chongqing. This is the 6th conference, and the next session will be held in Kunming.
