Ｄｅｌｅｇａｔｉｏｎ ｏｆ Ｉｒａｎ－Ｃｈｉｎａ Ｆｒｉｅｎｄｓｈｉｐ Ｓｏｃｉｅｔｙ Ｖｉｓｉｔｓ Ｃｈｉｎａ

At the invitation of the CPAFFC， a 2-member delegation of the Iran-China Friendship Society (ICFS) led by its President Ahad Mohammadi paid a goodwill visit to China from October 9 to 16， 2003. CPAFFC Vice President Wang Yunze met with and entertained the delegation. Li Chengren， vice president of the Chinese Association for International Understanding， Zheng Hu， vice general manager of the China National Petroleum Corporation， respectively met with the delegation. The delegation also paid a visit to Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region and Shanghai. Liu Zhong， vice chairman of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region and Yuan Gongxia， vice president of the Shanghai Municipal People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries met with and entertained the delegation.

This was the second time for President Mohammadi to be invited by the CPAFFC to lead a delegation to China since the founding of the ICFS in 2000. During his meeting with CPAFFC Vice President Wang Yunze， Mohammadi expressed his hope that the two organizations would increase cooperation in the fields of culture， sports， and particularly tourism so as to enhance the mutual understanding between the peoples of the two countries. He said: \"Along with the increase of the number of the Iranians coming to China for tourism and business in recent years， the Iranian people have come to know more about China. But， when I talk to Chinese people， quite a few of them don't know where Iran is， and some even confuse Iran with Iraq. This does not tally with the good political relations between the two countries. The two friendship organizations as the nongovernmental organizations should play greater roles in enhancing mutual understanding between the two peoples， and to carry out exchanges in cultural， sports and tourist fields is an effective way.\" Wang Yunze said， the ICFS led by President Mohammadi has played a positive role in promoting the existing good relations between the two countries， and he hoped that the two organizations would conduct cooperation in more fields including in economy， trade， culture， tourism and local governments. Mohammadi expressed his agreement to what Wang said. He said， the Ministry of the Islamic Culture and Guidance hopes to cooperate with the Chinese Ministry of Culture in shooting a film which will be shown in both countries. The Iranian side has already made preparations for it. He hoped that the CPAFFC would urge the relevant Chinese departments to see the matter come off. As to the cooperation in tourism， Mohammadi pointed out， Iran， like China， is a country with ancient civilization and rich tourist resources. Every year Iran attracts a great number of tourists from various parts of the world. Last year about 2 million Iranians traveled abroad. But so far Iran is not yet a tourist destination for the Chinese citizens. Iran is now discussing the matter with the Chinese departments concerned， and hopes to make Iran a tourist destination for the Chinese citizens as early as possible.

During its visit in Ningxia， the delegation had discussions with the relevant leading officials about tourist cooperation and import of beef from Ningxia. Mohammadi also serves as vice president of the JMF under which there are 22 hotels and 10 travel agencies. He wanted very much to carry out cooperation in tourism with China. During his talk with the leading members of the Ningxia Provincial Tourist Bureau， Mohammadi said， Ningxia with rich tourist resources is the region where Chinese Muslims live in compact communities， and similar to Iran in customs and dietary habits. Iranian tourists will find very convenient in Ningxia if they travel there. At the talk with Vice Chairman Liu Zhong， Mohammadi said， when he returns home he will try to find an Iranian province suitable to carry out friendly exchanges and cooperation with Ningxia. Another purpose of the delegation's visit to Ningxia is to explore the possibility of importing beef and mutton from China. The delegation visited the Ningxia Nashi Group Corp. Mohammadi enquired in great detail about the slaughter， cut and transportation of calves and lambs. He said his hotels need a great amount of tenderloin of calf and intend to import a great amount of them.

During its stay in Beijing， the delegation had a talk with Zhen Fu， deputy general manager of the China National Petroleum Corporation. The two sides exchanged views on the cooperation in the fields of oil and natural gas.