8th Conference on ASEAN-China People-to-People Friendship Organizations (CACPPFO) Held in the Philippines
From Nov.30th to Dec.2nd, the 8th CACPPFO was held in Manila of the Philippines. Mme. Gu Xiulian, President of China-ASEAN Association (CAA), CPAFFC Vice President Feng Zuoku, Mme. Hua Fuzhou, President of China Association for Labor Studies(CALS) and local government delegates from Beijing, Sichuan, Chengdu and Guangdong with ASEAN countries participants, altogether about 100 people, attended the conference.
The Conference was hosted by the Association for Philippines-China Understanding (APCU) with the theme of “Achieving Progress and Unity in Diversity”. President Gu Xiulian addressed in the opening ceremony and made positive comments on the role of the Conference to lift the China-ASEAN people-to-people friendship and trust to a new high, promote the cooperation to a new stage and push the interaction of the bilateral relations in multilateral platform to a new level. During the Conference, forums on China-ASEAN public health and laboring and employment were also held. On the closing ceremony, the 11 organizations from China and ASEAN countries signed the Manila Declaration and agreed that the next conference be held in Chengdu.
The conference was the last one in the first round of 10+1 cooperation mechanism and after the discussion and negotiation with 10 friendship organizations from ASEAN countries, the CAA raised the idea to upgrade the Conference to “Conference on ASEAN-China People-to-People Friendship” which will be held in every two years and the Leaders’ Meeting for ASEAN-China People-to-People Friendship Organizations be held in the year between two Conferences.
Dialogue of China-Tanzania Governors and Mayors Successfully Held in Tanzania
The Dialogue of China-Tanzania Governors and Mayors was held in Dar? Es Salaam, capital city of Tanzania on November 25, 2013. Mr. Xia Geng, Vice Governor of Shandong Province, Mr. Bing Zhigang, Vice Governor of Liaoning Province, Ms. Wang Lixia, Vice Governor of Shaanxi Province, Mr. Feng Zuoku, Vice President of CPAFFC, Mr. Lv Youqing, Chinese Ambassador to Tanzania, Honorable Mr. P Pinda, Prime Minister of Tanzania, Madame Gacia, Minister of Rural Area and Local Government and the businessmen from China and Tanzania, totaling about 500 guests, attended the Dialogue.
P Pinda, Prime Minister of Tanzania Addressing the Dialogue
Honorable PM Pinda said in his speech that the China-Tanzania traditional friendship was laid down by the old leaders of Mao Zedong and Nyerere in the 1960s. Since the establishment of the diplomatic relations between China and Tanzania in 1964, the two countries have been enjoying frequent high-level visits and the further promotion of political, economic and cultural exchanges to become the all-weather friends. Local government cooperation is an important part of the bilateral relations and the dialogue is another milestone and opportunity for us to strengthen our local government cooperation and economic ties. It’s hoped that the delegates from both sides could find more chances for the potential cooperation for the common development of our two countries.
Attendants of the Dialogue
Mr. Xia Geng, Head of the Chinese Delegation and Vice Governor of Shandong Province said that China and Tanzania enjoyed long history of friendship. As the symbol of China-Tanzania friendship, Tanzara is well-known in China. Since the establishment of diplomatic ties, bilateral relations has been developed healthily and steadily and is motivated with new energy in the new period. We hope to further promote the practical cooperation between China and Tanzania local government and the development of comprehensive partnership.
Dialugue Site
During the dialogue, both sides also held the Promotion of China’s Provinces and Cities, Promotion of Tanzania Investment and One-to-One Governors and Business Talks.
Signing Ceremony
Vice President Li Jianping Meets with Chairman of Association des Centres culturels de Rencontre
On Nov. 21st, the CPAFFC Vice President Li Jianping met with Mr. Yves Dauge, the chairman of Association des Centres? culturels? de? Rencontre.
Vice President Li Jianping extended his welcome to Mr. Yves Dauge and his group, as well as made a brief introduction on the status of the CPAFFC and its contact to France. He expressed that, as an organization specially engaged in non-governmental international exchanges in China, the CPAFFC attached great importance to the friendship with France. It has kept close cooperation with France in fields like local governments, agriculture for many years, at the same time established a lot of mature mechanisms such as Sino-France Forum. She hoped the CPAFFC would develop pragmatic with ACCR in the future in fields of culture and art, so as to further strengthen the people-to-people basis of China-France friendship.
Yves Dauge appreciated that Vice President Li Jianping picking time for the meeting in his tight schedule, and also introduced the history, aim and operating mechanism of the ACCR. He said the ACCR would like to take the next year’s 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France as an opportunity, to strengthen the cooperation with the CPAFFC in fields of local governments, culture and etc.. He also hoped to sign a bilateral cooperation agreement with the CPAFFC in the near future.
Vice President Li welcomed his idea. He said the CPAFFC would like to work and develop the bilateral relations with the ACCR based on carrying out detailed programs.
ACCR was established in 1972. It is a quasi-government organization that authenticated by the French government, with the task of protection and sustainable development of the French heritage sites, developing exchanges and cooperation in fields of culture, art and creativity industry. It has 15 domestic branches, 27 branches in EU and 5 international branches in other countries.
Vice President Li Jianping Meets with Ambassador of The Republic of Poland to China
On November 20th, Vice President Li Jianping met with H.E. Mr. Tadeusz Chomicki, Ambassador of The Republic of Poland to China, to discuss preparation for The 2nd China-Poland Regional Forum. CPAFFC and Embassy of The Republic of Poland made a preliminary plan of holding the forum in 2014 in China. According to Ambassador Chomicki’s expression, the Polish local governments values the opportunity to establish cooperative relationship with China and they possess strong willingness to attend the forum. Vice President Li said, CPAFFC attaches great importance to the exchanges and cooperation among Chinese and Polish local governments, we? will actively promote the preparation of the forum.?
Vice President Feng Zuoku Meets with Dato’abdul Majid Ahmad Khan, President of Malaysia-China Friendship Association
On Nov. 18th, Vice President Feng Zuoku met with Dato’abdul Majid Ahmad Khan, president of Malaysia-China Friendship Association, and his delegation.
Mr.Feng said, China and Malaysia are friendly neighbors. President Xi Jinping successfully paid a visit to Malaysia this year and promoted the China-Malaysia relations to a new height. We should do more work in people-to-people exchanges to constantly develop the bilateral relations.
Dato’abdul Majid Ahmad Khan said, Malaysia and China enjoy good official relations as well as close people-to-people exchanges. President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Najib specifically emphasized the importance of giving full play of nongovernmental forces during their talks. Malaysia-China Friendship Association would like to work with CPAFFC and China-Malaysia Friendship Association to maintain close cooperation and jointly hold the celebrations in 2014 marking the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic between Malaysia and China.
Mr.Feng also briefly introduced the preparation for next year’s celebration marking the 60th anniversary of the establishment of CPAFFC. The two sides discussed about the celebration activities marking the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic between Malaysia and China or "China-Malaysia Friendship Year" and exchanged views on the improvement, innovation and development of the Conference on China-ASEAN people-to-people Friendship Organizations.
Mr.Tan Bin, Vice President of China-Malaysia friendship Association attended the meeting.
The Global Summit of SME Leaders Held in Guangzhou Imperial Springs International Convention Center
The Global Summit of SME Leaders, co-hosted by the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization and Global Alliance of SMEs (GASME), and organized by Kingold Group, was held in Guangzhou Imperial Springs International Convention Center on Nov. 17, 2013. Mr. Zhu Xiaodan, Governor of Guangdong Province, Madam. Li Xiaolin, President of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries made welcoming speech at the opening ceremony. Former President of the United States Bill Clinton, Vice President of the French Senate, Former Prime Minister of France Jean Pierre Raffarin, Senior Vice Chairman of GASME, Former Vice President of Peru Raul Diez Canseco Terry and Global Chairman of GASME Carlos Magarinos attended the summit and delivered remarks.?
The summit aims to build an international platform for state leaders, high-level officials of international organizations, SME leaders and experts to exchange views, and address the challenges and opportunities that SMEs face in global economic development. About 200 Chinese and foreign leaders in the fields of politics and business, as well as renowned entrepreneurs attended the summit.
Third China-EU Association General and Council Meeting Convened in Beijing
The third China-EU Association General and Council Meeting was convened in Beijing on November 15th. Wuyunqimuge, the former Vice Chairwoman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress and more than 100 council members all around China attended the meeting. The meeting was chaired by Lijianping, Vice President of Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries.
The meeting passed the work report of the second council and produced the third council with the election of its president, vice presidents and secretary-general. Wuyunqimuge was elected as the President of China-EU association and Cong Jun, Li Jianping, Zhou Hong, Pan Gang, Zhu Jialin, Liu Jiangnan, Wang Dadong, the vice presidents of the association.
Wuyunqimuge, the newly-elected President planned the association’s development in her speech and pointed out that the new goal of the association is to make the association a high-profile platform with widely social participant, on which the people-to-people exchanges can be actively carried out in multi-aspects and all dimensions. Song Jingwu, the newly-elected secretary-general introduced the China-EU relations and the working plan towards EU. Some council members present brought forward some suggestions.
Min-On Folk Art Group’s Performance Tour of China
A Japanese folk art group dispatched by the Min-On Concert Association of Japan visited China from October 29 to November 7 at the invitation of the CPAFFC. It held two performances in Beijing and Tianjin and conducted an exchange performance in Beijing Foreign Studies University, which were warmly received and highly acclaimed by the Chinese audience. Mr. Tang Jiaxuan, President of the China-Japan Friendship Association and Mr. Xie Yuan, Vice President of the CPAFFC watched the performance in Beijing and met with the leading members of the delegation.
Featuring Japanese folk customs, the group presented such traditional art items as folk dances, Shamisen (Japanese traditional string instrument), Taiko (Japanese drum) and Japanese pop songs. The dances covered the most representative regional styles from Hokkaido in the north to Okinawa in the south, expressing the joy of people at work and at harvest, as well as their wishes for a good harvest. The artist who played Shamisen, a three-stringed instrument similar to Chinese sanxian, had high artistic attainment and had won many awards in Japan. His superb performance brought the audience to the scene of fishermen from the north braving the stormy sea. Taiko resembles the Chinese drum. The drum beating and the sonorous sound produced showed the masculine beauty of the male performers. The Japanese songs Kawa no Nagare no Y ni and Subaru which were well known to the Chinese audient enjoyed great popularity. The last item of the performance, a dance created on the poem to Madam Deng Yingchao by Mr. Ikeda Daisaku, founder of the Min-On, expressed the sincere wish of the people of the two countries for China-Japan friendship. An atmosphere of friendship and harmony permeated the theatre throughout the performance.
The Min-On, founded in 1963, celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. It is a major partner of the CPAFFC in carrying out culture exchanges with Japan. In its contact with China over the past 38 years, it has invited quite a number of prestigious Chinese art troupes to make performance tours of Japan. They have traveled to almost all the prefectures of the country. This was the first time that the Min-On sent an art group to China.?
Vice President Xie Yuan Attends Launching Ceremony of Chinese Painter Visiting Ecuador
On Nov. 6th, 2013, the launching ceremony of the program of the Chinese Painters visiting Ecuador was held in the CPAFFC. Vice President Xie Yuan of the CPAFFC, H.E. Mr. Jose Borja, the ambassador to China of Ecuador and six well-known painters from Hunan Province were present at the ceremony.
Vice President Xi Yuan said in his address, China and Ecuador was far from each other, but the two countries had long history of friendship. These excellent painters visiting Ecuador had very high artistic attainments. He Believed this visit of the Chinese painters would give an impetus to publicity of Ecuador, as well as strengthening the art exchanges between the two countries, furthering mutual understanding and creating friendship.
The CPAFFC and the Ecuador Embassy in China have started to cooperate on the program of Chinese painters visiting Ecuador since 2011. It has revealed the natural and cultural landscape of Ecuador with traditional Chinese paintings. Exhibitions of these paintings were staged in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, which achieved great success.
As the second phase of the program, the delegation of the Chinese painters is going to visit Quito, Galapagos Islands, Manta and Guayaquil. The exhibitions will be held in Beijing and Hunan in March and April, next year.
At the launching ceremony, on behalf of the CPAFFC and Ecuador Embassy in China respectively, Vice President Xie Yuan and Ambassador Borja signed the cooperation Memo of the second phase of Paintings of Ecuador.
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