Ｓｐｅｅｃｈ ｂｙ ＣＰＡＦＦＣ Ｐｒｅｓｉｄｅｎｔ Ｃｈｅｎ Ｈａｏｓｕ

The Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries has pursued its course with hard work for as long as half a century. Today， together with its council members from various places of the country， representatives of people of various circles and friends coming from other countries around the world， we are celebrating the Association’s 50th birthday. It's my greatest pleasure to express hereby my hearty welcome to all the friends and comrades present here.

President Hu Jintao has come to attend our meeting today and brought warm congratulations to us， making us feel extremely honoured. All generations of our State leaders have attached great importance to nongovernmental diplomacy and regarded it as an indispensable part of China’s total diplomacy. Taking the lead in making friends extensively and winning sympathy and understanding for the just cause of the Chinese people， they have played an important role in guiding and pushing forward nongovernmental diplomacy in its growth and development. In the name of all the participants of this celebration， I express our deep respect to President Hu Jintao and other leading comrades attending the meeting.

About 400 foreign friends in 100 delegations from nearly 40 countries have come on invitation to attend our celebration， representing tens of thousands of friends we have made over the past fifty years and the more than 550 friendly organizations we have kept in contact in over 130 countries. It is just owing to their great sympathy with the revolutionary and construction cause of the Chinese people that we have obtained a comparatively favorable international environment and made achievements attracting worldwide attention. The joint efforts made in the new century for peace and development have closely linked us with the people in all other countries. In the name of the Association I would like to express our sincere thanks to all the friends present here， and convey our greetings and good wishes through you to the progressive humankind in the world.

In the past fifty years， generations of people engaged in nongovernmental diplomatic work have devoted their zeal and energy to the cause of the Association， and made valuable contributions. Here we should mention the late President Soong Ching Ling and the late Chairperson Deng Yingchao， the two honorary presidents of the Association; Comrade Chu Tunan， the first president of the Association; Comrade Guo Moruo， chairman of the Chinese People’s Committee for World Peace， one of the predecessors of the Association; Comrade Wang Bingnan， Zhang Wenjin and Han Xu， former presidents of the Association， who have passed away; and many other glorious names registered in the history of development of the Association. On behalf of the new generation engaged in nongovernmental diplomatic work， I hereby recall our deeply cherished memory of the honored older generation. Of course， we should also extend warm regards to former presidents including Wang Guoquan， Chai Zemin and Qi Huaiyuan， who are in good health， and to all the seniors in the Association present here and those who could not come.

Two years ago， also in bright and beautiful spring in May， we convened the First Meeting of the Eighth National Council of the Association， and Comrade Hu Jintao who met with all the council members encouraged us to advance with the times， make progress courageously， and continuously enrich the contents of work， open up new fields of work and innovate ways of work. This is the theme of the work of our Association in the new century. At the Meeting were also defined the aims for the work of the Association， namely， enhance people’s friendship， further international cooperation， safeguard world peace and promote common development. These aims reflect in a concentrated way the experience of the Association’s fifty years of work， and provide the basic guideline for the development of nongovernmental diplomacy in the new century.

Making friends for the benefit of the nation is the most important task of the Association. China’s nongovernmental diplomacy is rooted among the people， focused on the people and places its hopes on the people. By making friends with people in all other countries of the world， it has won international sympathy for China’s revolutionary and construction cause， and made contributions to the development of the country and rejuvenation of the nation. When making friends with people of other countries， we have adhered to the stand of respecting their interests， the principle of equality and mutual benefit， and long-term， continuity and consistency， and have established a good image that the Chinese people love peace and are loyal to friendship. The friends we have made can stand the tests of changing situation and share weal and woe with us in working for the progressive cause of humanity. Our friendship has greatly benefited both the Chinese people and people of the world. By making friends， we have， at our own posts， made the greatest possible contributions to our country and people as well as to the world as a whole.

The achievement in making friends is fully shown in furthering international cooperation. In accordance with the reasonable pattern set for nongovernmental diplomatic work， we take exchanges with the vast number of developing countries as the foothold and cooperation with neighboring countries and the major countries in the world as the area to concentrate our efforts， and carry out all-directional nongovernmental political exchanges and cooperation. To adapt to the new situation after China’s reform and opening up， we take developing international economic and trade cooperation as an important task， thus adding new vitality to our nongovernmental diplomatic work. Carrying forward the tradition of attaching importance to cultural exchange， which was established in the early days after the founding of the Association， we have worked for the interflow and understanding between different thinking from the standpoint of cooperation between different civilizations. Devoted to the international cooperation between local governments and cities， we have promoted the twinning of 1，170 pairs of friendship cities/provinces between our provinces， autonomous regions and cities with their counterparts in 109 countries. Through participation in multilateral international diplomacy and cooperation with NGOs， which is a field of exploration in our work， we have exerted influence in the organizations of world cities and local authorities and other relevant organizations under the UN. In all forms of international cooperation， we have adhered to the principle of mutual benefit and sought win-win results. Committed to the pursuit of true friendship and practical cooperation， we have created broad prospects and promising future for the progress of China as well as the whole world.

It is a common pursuit of the people of all countries to maintain world peace. Having suffered too many miseries from wars， the Chinese people cherish peace and have made unremitting efforts to safeguard world peace in the international arena. Also fifty years ago， China， India and Burma jointly proposed the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence， which represents a contribution of the classical oriental wisdom to the modern international community. All efforts made by our Association are devoted to realizing unity among the people of all countries so as to help consolidate and extend world peace. We oppose hegemonism and power politics that jeopardize peace， and all forms of terrorism; we advocate setting up a new， just and reasonable world political and economic order on the basis of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence. Since the advent of the new century， we have repeatedly issued declarations calling for efforts to realize lasting peace， and erected a “Long Live Peace” monument in the compound of the Association to express our yearning for peace. Now in order to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Association， once again we issue a declaration to express our resolution to work hard for the peaceful rise of China and the peaceful development of the whole world.

It is also a shared pursuit of the people of all countries to promote common development. Enhancing friendship， furthering cooperation and safeguarding peace are all aimed at promoting development; while development in turn also creates broad prospects for friendship， cooperation and peace. China has put forward and will persist in the idea of scientific development. It has made great efforts to promote common development in the international arena， and is willing to establish sound cooperation of mutual benefit with all countries in the world. In its people-to-people contacts， our Association pays great attention to explaining China’s just stand to the people of other countries， and refuting the so-called “China Threat” fallacy. Through our sincerity to friends and longing for peace， it is evidenced that a more developed China， instead of posing threat to any country， is conducive to the progress of the world; and that it will greatly strengthen the force of world peace and push the cause of human progress towards a brighter future.

When looking back on the past， we feel proud of our fifty years of work for people’s friendship and our struggle for world peace till today. Our achievements are inseparable from the concern and support of the Party and State leaders， the collaboration and assistance from organizations and personages of various circles， and the sympathy and cooperation of friendly organizations and personages in other countries. We will never forget the care and kindness given us by friends from various sides， and will repay them with still harder work.

Looking to the future， we are full of confidence. We shall work for people’s friendship for another hundred years and strive for world peace to perpetuity. We will hold high the banner of Deng Xiaoping Theory and the important thought of Three Represents， and adhere to the general guidelines of China’s independent foreign policy of peace and to the aims of friendship， cooperation， peace and development. We will persistently serve the overall interests of total diplomacy， national construction and world peace， advance with the times， work innovatively， and strive for new achievements in nongovernmental diplomatic work.

In the times of economic globalization， the world has become increasingly integrated and the interests of people of all countries are closely linked together. Neither the development of a nation can be isolated from the development of other countries， nor a nation’s security be guaranteed if other countries are lacking security. Friendship， cooperation， peace and development have become the four basic elements for the normal operation of the international community. With these four elements as the aims of its work， the Association expresses its good wishes to the progressive mankind of the world as well as its thanks to them for the care and help they have given us in the past five decades. In the coming fifty and even one hundred years， we will continue to work hard together with you， and advance with the times and the world towards a very bright future!

Thank you.