ＣＰＡＦＦＣ Ｄｅｌｅｇａｔｉｏｎ Ｌｅｄ ｂｙ Ｐｒｅｓｉｄｅｎｔ Ｃｈｅｎ Ｈａｏｓｕ Ｖｉｓｉｔｓ Ｆｉｎｌａｎｄ ａｎｄ Ｉｒｅｌａｎｄ

At the invitation of the Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities (AFLRA)， the Irish-Chinese Cultural Society (ICCS) and the Ireland-China Association (ICA)， a CPAFFC delegation led by its President Chen Haosu paid a goodwill working visit to Finland and Ireland from January 15 to 25， 2006. Leaders of the local people’s friendship associations of Anyang City， Zhangjiajie City and Jilin Province were among the members of the delegation visiting the above two countries.

In Finland

During its stay in Finland， the delegation visited Helsinki， Tornio and Kittila， met with Hannes Manninen， minister of the interior and had talks with Pertti Vanne， executive chairman of Helsinki City Council; Pekka Nousiainen， member of the Parliament and president of the Association of the Finnish Local and Regional Authorities; Raimo Ronkainen， mayorof Tornio; and Seppo Maula， mayor of Kittila. The delegation also attended the briefing by the AFLRA， the Forum on the cooperation of environmental industry between Lahti of Finland and China， the briefing on the coordinated development of Finland and the Symposium on the cross-border cooperation in Northern Europe.

During his meeting with the delegation， Minister of the Interior Manninen said， Finland and China have done very well in cooperation between the local governments of the two countries. Now Finland’s cooperation with China is further increasing and there has even appeared “China phenomenon” in Finland. CPAFFC President Chen Haosu briefed about the development of friendship city ties between China and Finland and the cooperation between the local governments. Chen said， the two sides have established good cooperative relations in the UCLG and local governments of various countries in the world are facing many similar problems and can learn a lot from one another.

During the talk between the delegation and the AFLRA， Pekka， president of the AFLRA， said， the Finnish and Chinese local governments have conducted good cooperation and now there are a dozen pairs of friendship cities between the two countries. The two sides cooperate smoothly in the UCLG and will cooperate better in the future， he added. Chen briefed the Finnish side about the work of the CPAFFC and the China-EU Association， and said， to strengthen international cooperation and push forward the development of friendship city ties and serve the Chinese local governments are part of the important work of the CPAFFC. Both the Chinese and Finnish sides can do a lot in this respect.

In Ireland

Irish President Mary McAleese met with the delegation cordially. The delegation had talks with Michael Ahern， state minister for enterprise， trade and employment; Dick Roche， minister for environment， heritage and local governments; Noel Treacy， minister of state for foreign affairs; Michael McDowell， minister for justice， equality and law reform; Deirdre Clune， mayor of Cork; John Fitzgerald and Catherine Byrne， city manager and mayor of Dublin.

On January 24， Irish President McAleese held a grand ceremony in honour of CPAFFC President Chen Haosu and his party in the Presidential Palace. The meeting was held in warm and cordial atmosphere. Chinese Ambassador to Ireland Zhang Xinsen was present at the meeting.

In her meeting with the delegation President McAleese stressed， in recent years Ireland-China relations have witnessed a good momentum of development， and remarkable results have been achieved in cooperation. The two countries should further strengthen people-to-people friendly exchanges in personnel， sending students to study in each other’s countries and tourism. She asked Chen Haosu to convey her best regards to President Hu Jintao and expressed her hope that President Hu will visit Ireland at an appropriate time. Chen said， the Chinese people admire the rapid development of Ireland in the past more than ten years. The two countries have made great achievements in cooperation in many fields. He expressed his belief and hope that bilateral cooperation of win-win and mutual benefit will continuously develop and that the CPAFFC will play a greater role in the people-to-people friendly cooperation between the two countries.

In his meeting with President Chen and his party， Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Treacy said， both Ireland and China have experienced rapid economic growth for more than a decade. China has been carrying out economic and social development and reform and playing a more and more important role in the international affairs. Ireland attaches great importance to its relations with China that has already become one of its largest trade partners. Bilateral trade volumes are increasing continuously. The Irish Prime Minister and the Chinese Premier have decided to increase bilateral trade volumes two times in the coming five years. Now China is not only a source of raw material and spare parts for Irish manufacturing industry， but also a more and more important market for Irish products and service industries. Frequent exchanges of visits by leaders of the two countries have promoted the development of bilateral relations. Ireland is looking forward to President Hu’s visit. The number of Chinese students who come to study in Ireland is continuously increasing. The exchanges between the two cultures will further enhance our understanding of the various aspects of each other’s culture. Ireland， as one of the tourist destinations for Chinese citizens， expects more Chinese tourists to visit the country. Treacy said in praise that the CPAFFC is an important channel to promote the nongovernmental diplomacy as what President Hu said.

In meeting with the above important Irish figures， CPAFFC President Chen briefed about China’s development and said China’s development is conducive to the development and peace of the world and will not pose threat to anyone and any country. The Chinese people ardently wish prosperity and solidarity of the world and will show their good intentions with their acts. The Chinese Government adopts a scientific approach on development and pays attention to carrying forward development in a coordinative way， so as to build a harmonious society in China as well as the whole world. Ireland has its superiority in science， technology and environmental protection that deserve our learning and reference.

The delegation visited Dublin Transportation Office， University College Cork and took part in the activities to welcome it held by the ICCS， the ICA， the Irish-Chinese Contact Groups and University College Cork.