Ｔｈｉｒｄ Ｃｈｉｎａ－Ｒｕｓｓｉａ Ｆｒｉｅｎｄｓｈｉｐ Ｃｉｔｙ Ｍｅｅｔｉｎｇ

The Third China-Russia Friendship City Meeting was held in Beijing on October 26， 2004. The aim of the meeting was to sum up achievements and exchange experiences in the contacts between Chinese and Russian friendship cities， deepen exchanges and cooperation between them and promote local social and economic prosperity and development of the two countries. The Russia Twin Cities International Association (RTCIA) sent a delegation headed by A. Sokolov， chairman of the Siberia and Far East Cities Association and mayor of Khabarovsk City， attended the meeting. Altogether 120 people including leading officials and representatives of five Chinese provinces， autonomous regions， and municipalities directly under the Central Government and 16 cities， and four Russian regions and 14 cities as well as personages of the economic and trade circles were present at the meeting.

The Third China-Russia Friendship City Meeting opened in the auditorium of the CPAFFC on the morning of October 26. The meeting was presided over by CPAFFC Vice President Su Guang. CPAFFC President Chen Haosu， Head of the Russian delegation A. Sokolov， Assistant Foreign Minister Li Hui and Russian Ambassador to China Igor Rogachev addressed the meeting. Messages of congratulations sent by B. Gromov， president of the RTCIA and governor of Moscow Region and V. Matvienko， mayor of St. Petersburg were read out at the meeting. Zhang Mao， vice mayor of Beijing， M. Men， vice mayor of Moscow， Baima Chilin， vice chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region， V. Bogdanov， vice president of the Republic of Kalmykia， and V. Kulikov， vice governor of Kaluga Region， spoke at the meeting.

In his speech， Chen Haosu said， along with the continuous development of Sino-Russian relations， the localities of the two countries are getting increasingly closer in cooperation and exchanges， and their wishes to deepen mutual understanding and expand the areas of cooperation more and more intense. Both China and Russia have been actively carrying out friendship city activities. At present， 66 pairs of friendship cities have been twined between China and Russia， which have effectively promoted the cooperation between localities of the two countries at various levels and in broad fields， boosted the economic and social prosperity and development and played an important role in developing Sino-Russian relations and maintaining peace and stability in the border area. In recent years， Sino-Russian friendship cities not only have increased in number， but also enriched and improved the contents and quality of their exchanges. Chen pointed out， there is still a great potential in developing exchanges and cooperation between the friendship cities of the two countries. Sino-Russian relations are now at its best historical period， providing more opportunities for strengthening contacts and exchanges between the friendship cities. We are willing to work together with the Russian side to study carefully the experience and rules in carrying out friendship city work and actively explore and open up new forms and new fields of work so as to scale new heights in the work.

In their speeches at the meeting and panel discussions， delegates exchanged their successful experiences and achievements in their friendship city work and made concrete suggestions on the contacts between friendship cities in the future. For example， in his briefing about the exchanges between Beijing and Moscow， Vice Mayor Zhang Mao said， since twinning friendship city ties in 1995， the two cities have carried out extensive exchanges and cooperation in the fields of economy， trade， culture， education， public health， urban construction， etc.， especially in the fields concerning the Olympic Games. Beijing got great support from the government of Moscow in its bid for the 2008 Olympic Games. In his speech， Vice Mayor of Moscow M. Men proposed that the two cities cooperate in the ecological field for promoting sustainable development， and hoped that importance would be attached to the exchanges between young people so as to attract more young people to participate in the exchanges between the two cities. He also stressed that as international metropolises， the two cities should strengthen cooperation in combating terrorism.

On the evening of the day of the opening ceremony， CPAFFC Vice President Su Guang， on behalf of the sponsors， held a reception in honour of the Chinese and Russian delegates.

Since Shanghai and St. Petersburg twinned friendship cities in 1988， the first pair between the two countries， friendship city ties have become an important component part of the exchanges between localities of the two countries and made great contributions to and played an irreplaceable role in the development of Sino-Russian good neighbourly friendly and cooperative relations and strategic partnership. This meeting， aimed at making a periodic summary of Sino-Russian friendship city relations， will further push forward substantial cooperation between localities of the two countries.

Leading officials and representatives of some Chinese and Russian cities that had not yet established friendship city ties took the opportunity of the meeting to publicize the general situation， social and cultural characteristics and industrial structure of their cities， especially their achievements in economy， trade and investment.

With the assistance of the CPAFFC， leading officials of Tibet Autonomous Region and the Republic of Kalmykia led delegations to attend the meeting and had talks. During the meeting， Lhasa， capital ofTibet Autonomous Region， and Elista， capital of the Republic of Kalmykia， signed an agreement on formally forming friendship city ties between the two cities. This was an important step that the CPAFFC took to help China’s western and central regions expand their contacts with the outside world.

As one of the activities of the meeting， the RTCIA delegation visited the Beijing Economic and Technological Development Zone， the Shanghai Pudong Development Zone， the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Centre， the Suzhou Industrial Park， the Kunshan High-Tech Development Zone and some enterprises， and learned the policies for attracting outside investment and taxation. The delegates showed great interest in the initiation and development of these zones， and admired their achievements. They said that the operation mechanism and experience of these development zones were worth learning and hoped that Russian and Chinese cities and regions would carry out active cooperation in building and developing development zones.

Tremendous achievements and great changes in China’s economic development and city construction that they saw in the places they visited touched them greatly and left unforgettable impressions on them. Many delegates said that before the visit they had little knowledge about China， only some one-sided， even negative information. Now， through the visit their views about China had changed greatly. During the visit in various cities， the delegates expressed their willingness to establish contacts and cooperate with these Chinese cities， and on this basis to form friendship city ties. Especially Naro-Fominsk District， Nokinsk District and Serpukhov District of Moscow Region (These districts are equivalent to Chinese cities of prefectural level.) that had not yet twinned friendship city ties with any Chinese cities hoped to find partners of long-term cooperation through the meeting and the visit. The Chinese cities gave positive response to the wishes of the Russian side， and expressed their willingness to continue to keep in touch with the Russian counterparts and carry out exchanges， especially economic and trade cooperation in the future.