Ｍｅｅｔｉｎｇ Ｃｅｌｅｂｒａｔｉｎｇ ＣＰＡＦＦＣ ５０ｔｈ Ａｎｎｉｖｅｒｓａｒｙ Ｈｅｌｄ

More than 400 friends from 90 friendship organizations all over the world and leading members of the government departments concerned， people’s organizations and provincial， autonomous regional， municipal friendship associations as well as personages who have worked for years at the people-to-people diplomatic front in China happily gathered in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on the afternoon of May 20 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the CPAFFC. President Hu Jintao attended the meeting and made a speech. Former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari， former Australian Prime Minister Robert James Lee Hawke， world’s first woman astronaut and President of the Russia International Cooperation Association V. V. Tereshkova， and Executive Secretary of the Association for Sri Lanka-China Social and Cultural Cooperation Indrananda Abeysekera， who came specially to China for the occasion， addressed the meeting， congratulating the CPAFFC on its 50th anniversary (Full texts on pages 13 to 16). CPAFFC President Chen Haosu also delivered a speech. The meeting was presided over by CPAFFC Vice President Li Xiaolin. Present at the meeting were Vice Chairmen of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress Ismail Amat， He Luli and Cheng Siwei， State Councillor Tang Jiaxuan， Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Xu Kuangdi， CPAFFC Advisers Wang Guangying， Buhe， Tomur Dawamat， Peng Peiyun， Song Jian and Hu Qili， Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing， Director of the Foreign Affairs Office of the CPC Central Committee Liu Huaqiu， and others.

In his speech， President Hu Jintao first of all extended， on behalf of the Chinese Government and people， warm congratulations on the convening of the meeting. He expressed cordial greetings to the comrades of the CPAFFC and those engaged in people-to-people diplomacy， sincere welcome to the foreign friends attending the meeting， and heart-felt thanks to our friends in various countries who have showed concern for and given support to China’s modernization drive.

Hu Jintao spoke highly of the contributions the CPAFFC has made to China’s people-to-people diplomacy in the past 50 years since its founding. He said: “During the past five decades， the CPAFFC has conscientiously implemented the foreign policies and principles of the Party and state and closely coordinated with the total diplomacy of our country. Adhering to the purposes of enhancing people’s friendship， furthering international cooperation， maintaining world peace and promoting common development， it has forged extensive relations with most countries in the world， kept close links with many international institutions and friendly organizations， and established contacts with great numbers of international friends. It has opened up broad channels for friendly exchanges， and done a great deal of useful work with admirable results in promoting friendship between the Chinese people and other peoples of the world and in creating a favorable international environment needed for national development. The 50-year-course of development of the CPAFFC has fully proved that people-to-people diplomacy holds an important place in total diplomacy， and the CPAFFC is an important force pushing the development of China’s people-to-people diplomacy.”

Hu Jintao pointed out: “In the world today， the role of people-to-people diplomacy is becoming more and more important. To develop people-to-people diplomacy is conducive to enhancing friendship between the peoples， promoting economic and cultural exchanges and cooperation among the countries and laying a broad social mass base for the development of state-to-state relations.” “The Chinese government has always attached great importance to people-to-people diplomacy. It has always regarded it as a component part of the country’s total diplomacy and emphasized bringing its important role into full play. The Chinese government will， as always， support our people-to-people diplomacy in its efforts to increase the understanding and friendship between the Chinese people and the people of other countries， to consolidate and develop the cooperation of mutual benefit between China and other countries， and to safeguard the common interests of all the peoples in the world.”

Hu Jintao emphasized， comrades working for people-to-people diplomacy should unswervingly pursue China’s independent foreign policy of peace， “further persist in enhancing people’s friendship as your primary work， staying rooted in the people， focusing on the people and placing hopes on the people; make friends extensively and make close friends; carry out friendly exchanges rich in content and varied in form with the people of other countries; promote the deepening of mutual understanding and sentiments of amity between the people of China and other countries;” “bring into fuller play the characteristics and advantages of people-to-people diplomacy and expand the field of people-to-people friendship work; increase the awareness of serving economic construction; tap the potentialities and actively make innovations; do more work to publicize China’s reform and opening up and its modernization drive; do more work to serve as a bridge for ‘bringing in’ and ‘going out’; and do more work to promote cooperation of mutual benefit between China and other countries;” “intensify your efforts to increase cultural exchange with other countries; introduce to the Chinese people the rich fine culture of other countries， and likewise， introduce to the people of other countries the Chinese extensive and profound culture; and do more work to resolve questions and doubts and， through cultural exchange， urge the Chinese people and other peoples to learn from each other， and encourage the Chinese culture and the culture of other countries to draw on each other’s merits.”

Hu Jintao expressed the hope: “Comrades working for people-to-people diplomacy in China should persistently act under the guidance of Deng Xiaoping Theory and the important thought of Three Represents， fully implement the foreign policies and principles of the Party and state and， in accordance with the requirements of serving total diplomacy， national construction， the great cause of peaceful reunification of the motherland and world peace， constantly bring forth new ideas in work， improve working methods and strive to open up new prospects for work.” (Full text on page 6)

At the meeting， CPAFFC President Chen Haosu expressed warm welcome to CPAFFC council members from all parts of the country， representatives of all walks of life in China and friends from all over the world present at the meeting in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the CPAFFC. He expressed deep respect for President Hu Jintao and other leading comrades attending the meeting. He gave sincere thanks to the tens of thousands of foreign friends the CPAFFC has made in the past five decades in the more than 550 friendship organizations in over 130 countries who have shown great sympathy for the Chinese people’s cause of revolution and construction. He recalled the deeply cherished memory of the late CPAFFC leaders who had devoted their zeal and energy to the cause of the Association and made valuable contributions and extended warm regards to former CPAFFC presidents who are in good health and to all the seniors in the Association present at the meeting and those who could not come.

Chen Haosu recalled the course traversed by the CPAFFC in the past 50 years. He pointed out， the aims of the Association， namely， to enhance people’s friendship， further international cooperation， safeguard world peace and promote common development， reflect in a concentrated way the experience of the Association’s 50 years of work， and provide the basic guideline for the development of nongovernmental diplomacy in the new century. He emphasized: “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.”

Chen Haosu said: “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.” “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.” (Full text on page 9)

Before the meeting， President Hu Jintao met with some of the foreign friends who had come to attend the meeting.