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At the invitation of the Austrian Association for Promotion of Friendship and Cultural Relations with China (AAPFCRC) and the Hanns-Seidel Foundation of Germany， a CPAFFC delegation headed by Wang Xiaoyu， vice chairman of the Qinghai Provincial People’s Political Consultative Conference， paid a visit to Austria and Germany from June 22 to July 3， 2005. Most of the members of the delegation came from China’s western provinces and cities including Qinghai Province and Chongqing Municipality. During its visit to the two countries， the delegation had exchanges with members of parliament to better understand the parliamentary system and the political， economic and social situation of the two countries， and achieved the goal of enhancing understanding， expanding consensus， deepening friendship and promoting cooperation.

On June 23， the next day after the delegation arrived in Austria， Ludwig Bieringer， head of the club of the Austrian People’s Party (OVP) in the National Council， met with the delegation in the Parliament Building. Mr. Bieringer， an important Austrian statesman and mayor of Wals of Salzburg State， has visited China three times and is very friendly to China. He said， he was asked by Ms. Anna E. Haselbach， executive vice president of the Federal Council and vice chairperson of the Supervision Committee of the AAPFCRC， to meet with the delegation. Ms. Haselbach had planned to meet with the delegation herself， but she was unable to do so because of feeling unwell. Bieringer said， Austria attaches great importance to its relations with China and has been actively promoting cooperation between the EU and China. It appreciates China’s constructive role in the international affairs and is satisfied with the close contacts between the two countries. As to friendship city ties between the two countries， through the channel of the AAPFCRC and the CPAFFC Wals and Jinzhong of Shanxi Province are now developing such ties.

Wang Xiaoyu， head of the delegation， said， the main purpose of their visit was to enhance understanding between members of parliament of the two countries and to know about “the Year of China” held by the AAPFCRC. Though having few exchanges with foreign countries， China’s western regions are eager to do so and welcome personages of the Austrian political and economic circles to visit China’s western regions where there are rich resources and a great potential of development. Wang said， exchanges between friendship cities are very important. He hoped that the AAPFCRC would recommend more Austrian cities to carry out cooperation with cities in China’s western regions.

On the afternoon of June 23， Walter Strutzenberger， president of the AAPFCRC and former executive vice president of the Federal Council hosted a banquet in honour of the delegation. Also present at the banquet were Professor Gerd Kaminski， executive vice president of the AAPFCRC， Mr. Jarolim， chairman of the Law Committee of the National Council， and director of the office of minister of justice. At the banquet the Austrian side informed the delegation of the establishment of Austria-China Association of Law Exchanges and hoped that Chinese deputies to the National People’s Congress would support the association’s work. The president of the association is minister of justice and its vice president is Mr. Jarolim. The two sides conversed on law and tourism in China’s western region.

On June 27， the delegation paid an official call on Alois Glueck， president of the State Parliament of Bavaria， who had just visited China last May at the invitation of the CPAFFC and was deeply impressed. He briefed the delegation about agriculture in Bavaria， experience in solving problems in rural areas and the road of development that the state took after the Second World War. Thanks to the correct and consistent policy， in just 50 years Bavaria State has been turned into the richest state of Germany from an economically backward agricultural state. The State makes great efforts to develop education， infrastructure and high-tech industries， gives priority to develop medium and small sized enterprises， and protects the interests of farmers. It regards developing agriculture and solving rural problems as important as protecting historical and cultural tradition， which should not be neglected because of industrialization and urbanization. Besides， Bavaria State attaches great importance to environmental protection and set up the Department of Environmental Protection in the state government as early as in the 1970s， which was the first of its kind in Germany.

On June 27， Dr. Peter Witterauf and Dr. Rainer Gepperth， secretary general and deputy secretary general of the Hanns-Seidel Foundation， met with and entertained the delegation. They briefed the delegation about the Foundation’s work in China and the operation system of German political foundations. To study German agriculture， the delegation visited a farm in Dachau County， Bavaria State.