ＣＰＡＦＦＣ Ｌｏｃａｌ Ｌｅａｄｅｒｓ Ｄｅｌｅｇａｔｉｏｎ Ｖｉｓｉｔｓ Ｔｈｒｅｅ Ｂａｌｔｉｃ Ｃｏｕｎｔｒｉｅｓ

Invited by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania， the United Latvian Friendship Societies with Foreign Countries， the Association of Estonian Cities and the Estonia Chamber of Commerce and Industry， a CPAFFC local leaders delegation， consisting of leaders from the provinces of Jiangsu， Zhejiang， Sichuan， Fujian， and Guangdong， Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and 10 cities with CPAFFC Vice President Su Guang at the head， paid a goodwill visit to Lithuania， Latvia and Estonia from August 22 to September 5， 2003.

C. Jursenas， first vice chairman of the Lithuanian Parliament and member of the Parliamentary Friendship Group with China， Evaldas Ignatavicius， state secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania， Rihards Piks， former vice president of the Latvian Parliament and head of the Latvia-China Parliamentary Friendship Group， Ene Ergma， president of the Estonian Parliament， Tonis Nirk， vice foreign minister and member of the Estonia-China Parliamentary Friendship Group of Estonia， met with the delegation. They all said that their countries attached great importance to developing relations of friendship and cooperation with China and extended warm welcome to the delegation's visit which they held was an important supplement to high-level visits such as those between the presidents， the parliaments and the governments. They spoke highly of the great achievements China has scored since reform and opening up and the important role China is playing on the international stage.

Su Guang expressed sincere thanks to the Parliament and Foreign Ministry leaders of the three countries for meeting with the delegation. He pointed out， China has always attached great importance to developing friendly relations with Lithuania， Latvia and Estonia. China is one of the first countries to recognize and forge diplomatic ties with the three countries. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations， China's relations with the three Baltic countries， on the whole， have maintained a steady and healthy development momentum and the friendly cooperation in the political， economic， trade， cultural， educational and other fields have been consolidated and strengthened with satisfactory results.

The delegation visited the capital Vilnius and the second biggest city Kaunas of Lithuania， the capital Riga and the seaside city Yurmala of Latvia， and the capital Tallinn， the second largest city Tartu and the seaside city Parnu of Estonia， where it was received by the leaders of these cities. They briefed the delegation on the social， economic and cultural development and history of their cities and expressed the desire to establish links and carry out economic cooperation and cultural exchanges with Chinese cities. Su Guang said at these meetings， since the CPAFFC was entrusted by the State Council with the work of coordinating and overseeing the work of establishing and developing friendship-city relations in 1973， this work has unfolded smoothly. Up to now， more than 1，100 pairs of friendship cities have been twinned. Friendship-city relations have been established between China and the three Baltic countries， for instance， the friendship-city ties forged between Suzhou and Riga of Latvia and between Xiamen and Kaunas of Lithuania. Su added， at present， the friendly and cooperative relations between twinned cities have developed smoothly. One of the major tasks of the CPAFFC is to serve the provinces and cities and China's economic development. The CPAFFC and the leaders from the Chinese provinces and cities have come to the three Baltic countries with sincere desire for cooperation. Both sides agreed that the number of friendship cities was rather small at the present， which could not keep up with the smooth development of state-to-state relations. They believed that with the efforts made by all sides， the number of friendship cities twinned between China and the three Baltic countries would grow gradually.

The extensive contact and discussions the delegation had with personages of various circles and relevant organizations of the three Baltic countries during the visit have laid a good basis for future cooperation. Prof. Bronislovas Genzelis， president of the Lithuanian Friendship Association with Foreign Countries， and President Inese Tomase and Vice President Silvya Liduma of the United Latvian Friendship Societies with Foreign Countries met cordially with the delegation. Through the visit our Association established contact with the Association of Local Authorities in Lithuania and the Association of Estonian Cities. In Latvia the delegation met and had talks with leaders of the Latvian Trader's Association and representatives of the economic and trade circles. The delegation also visited Tartu University， the largest higher-learning institution with the longest history in Estonia， and held a talk with its president Jaak Aaviksoo. President Aaviksoo expressed the hope to carry out exchanges and cooperation with the Chinese higher-learning institutions.

On September 1， the delegation attended in Tallinn a seminar on economy and trade between Estonia and China sponsored by the Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. It was presided over by Siim Raie， director general of the Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Members of the Chinese delegation and personages of the economic and trade circles of Estonia totaling about 60 were present at the Seminar. Su Guang made a welcoming address. Vice Foreign Minister Tonis Nirk in charge of economic affairs attended the Seminar and delivered a speech. He said， the relations between Estonia and China have achieved marked progress since Estonia's independence. President Jiang Zemin's visit to Estonia in 2002 raised our bilateral relations to a new level. Bilateral economic and trade relations have seen smooth development in recent years. He held， Estonia has great potential in entrepot trade and materials circulation as well as export of oil shale， timber and electronic products. The marketing manager of the Investment Bureau of Estonia and the director of the Department of Foreign Relations of the Tallinn Port delivered reports， introducing the investment environment and the tax policy of Estonia. The Estonian participants said， the rapid economic development of Estonia and China has provided favourable conditions for bilateral cooperation. The vast Chinese market provides good opportunities for the Estonian businessmen while the entrepot trade of Estonia is attractive to the Chinese businessmen. The economic and trade cooperation between the two countries has great potential.