Ａｒｃｈｂｉｓｈｏｐ Ｔｈｅｏｄｏｒｅ ＭｃＣａｒｒｉｃｋ ｏｆ Ｗａｓｈｉｎｇｔｏｎ Ｄ． Ｃ． Ｖｉｓｉｔｓ Ｃｈｉｎａ

At the invitation of the CPAFFC， Catholic Archbishop Theodore McCarrick of Washington D. C. paid a visit to Beijing from October 12 to 14， 2005. Jia Qinglin， chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC)， Fu Tieshan， vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress， Xu Kuangdi， vice chairman of the National Committee of the CPPCC and president of the China-US People’s Friendship Association， met with or entertained him. Ye Xiaowen， director of the State Administration for Religious Affairs， Chen Haosu and Li Xiaolin， president and vice president of the CPAFFC， and Liu Bonian， vice president of the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association， respectively met with or entertained him.

On the afternoon of October 14， Chairman Jia Qinglin met with Archbishop Theodore McCarrick in the auditorium of the CPPCC. Also present at the meeting were Zheng Wantong， secretary-general of the National Committee of the CPPCC， Chen Haosu， president of the CPAFFC， Ye Xiaowen， director of the State Administration for Religious Affairs， Zhu Weiqun， deputy head of the United Front Work Department of the CPC Central Committee， Yang Jiechi， vice foreign minister， and Li Xiaolin， vice president of the CPAFFC.

Chairman Jia expressed welcome to Archbishop McCarrick’s visit to China and appreciation of his efforts to promote religious exchanges between China and the United States. He extended his deep sympathy and solicitude for the American government and people who had suffered casualties and property losses in the recently hurricane-stricken southern states of the United States， and reiterated that when the American people were at a difficult time of facing severe natural disasters the Chinese people stood by them.

Chairman Jia continued， in recent years with the concerted efforts of both sides， China-US relations have achieved important progress. Leaders of the two countries have established good working and personal relationship. Both sides have expressed to enhance exchanges and mutual trust， expand consensus and cooperation and make joint efforts to promote an all-round constructive cooperative relationship between the two countries in the 21st century. This is of great significance to the healthy and steady development of China-US relations.

Archbishop McCarrick said that Chairman Jia Qinglin was the highest-ranking Chinese leader he had met since he was received by President Jiang Zemin in 1998. He said， China’s entry into the WTO and successful bid of the 2008 Olympic Games all show that China has become an important partner in the international community. He also expressed his congratulation on China’s successful launching of its manned spaceship Shenzhou-6.