Ｃｏｍｍｅｍｏｒａｔｉｖｅ Ｍｅｅｔｉｎｇ ｆｏｒ Ｃｅｎｔｅｎｎｉａｌ ｏｆ Ｅｄｇａｒ Ｓｎｏｗ Ｈｅｌｄ ｉｎ Ｓｈａｎｇｈａｉ

A meeting jointly sponsored by the Shanghai Municipal People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (SMPAFFC)， the Shanghai Society for People’s Friendship Studies (SSPFS)， the Shanghai Journalists Association (SJA) and the Journalism School of Fudan University was held at the Shanghai’s Guangdian Mansion on July 19 to mark the centennial of the birth of Edgar Snow， well-known American journalist， writer， and sincere friend of the Chinese people. SSPFS President Liang Yufan presided over the meeting， at which Zhou Muyao， vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the Shanghai Municipal People’s Congress and president of the SMPAFFC， made a keynote speech and Shi Junsheng， vice president of the SJA， Huang Hu， vice dean of the Journalism School of Fudan University， and Liu Ying， representative of youth and excellent journalist of the Liberation Daily spoke. Shao Huixiang， deputy director of the Foreign Affairs Office of Shanghai， Yao Quanfu， vice president of the SMPAFFC， Lin Deming， Sun Mei and Chen Yixin， vice presidents of the SSFS， among more than 200 senior comrades from the Shanghai foreign affairs departments and the press circles as well as students of the Department of Journalism of Fudan University.

In his speech Zhou Muyao recalled Snow’s extraordinary life， the prominent contributions he made to promoting understanding and friendship between the people of China and the United States and the important role he played in the resumption and development of relations between the two countries. Zhou Muyao said with emphasis， by commemorating the centennial of Snow’s birth today， we should learn from his fine style of work: his sincerity and frankness， going to the realities of life and upholding truth regardless of hardships and dangers. While commemorating Snow， we should make efforts to maintain and develop the friendship between the Chinese and American people that Snow had worked for all his life. Sino-US relations are not plain sailing. They often suffer setbacks. But， the friendship between the two peoples is evergreen. We should stay rooted in the people， focus on the people and place hopes on the people and do more work so as to contribute more to strengthening contacts with personages of various circles of the Unites States and enhancing mutual understanding and friendship on broader basis.