ＣＰＡＦＦＣ Ｄｅｌｅｇａｔｉｏｎ Ｖｉｓｉｔｓ Ｂｏｓｎｉａ ａｎｄ Ｈｅｒｚｅｇｏｖｉｎａ，Ｓｅｒｂｉａ ａｎｄ Ｍｏｎｔｅｎｅｇｒｏ，ａｎｄ Ｂｕｌｇａｒｉａ

Invited by the Bosnia and Herzegovina-China Friendship Association (BHCFA)， the Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities of Serbia and Montenegro， and the Federation for Bulgarian-Chinese Friendship， a CPAFFC delegation headed by its vice president Liu Zhiming paid a goodwill visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina， Serbia and Montenegro， and Bulgaria from September 14 to 25， 2005 and was accorded high courtesy. It had extensive contact with personages of the political and business circles of the three countries， which deepened mutual understanding， promoted friendship and enhanced cooperation.

It was the first delegation sent by the CPAFFC to Bosnia and Herzegovina since the latter’s independence. Member of the Presidency Sulejman Tihic， Deputy Foreign Minister Anton Rill， Federation Prime Minister Ahmet Hadzipasic and Deputy Prime Minister Gavrilo Grahovac， Serb Republic Vice President Ivan Tomljenovic and Prime Minister Pero Bukejlovic， ministers of trade， tourism and economic development and other government officials at the national level as well as of the two entities， met with the delegation on separate occasions. The delegation also visited the capital Sarajevo， East Sarajevo， Bijeljina， Banjaluka and Mostar， had meetings and discussions with the mayors and relevant officials， and carried out exchanges with the Bosniak， Croat and Serb leading members of the BHCFA respectively.

When meeting the delegation， Federation Prime Minister Hadzipasic said， as the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina stabilized and reform deepened， the political relations between Bosnia and Herzegovina and China have become increasingly close and economic cooperation has expanded continuously in recent years. Bosnia and Herzegovina hopes and has the ability to become China’s cooperation partner. He welcomed Chinese entrepreneurs to invest and build factories in Bosnia and Herzegovina.Federation Deputy Prime Minister Gavrilo Grahovac emphazed， Bosnia and Herzegovina wishes to carry out cooperation in all fields with China and regards the enhancement of regional cooperation as an important channel. He expressed the hope that the friendship organizations of the two countries would play a more vigorous role in this respect.

The Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities of Serbia and Montenegro attached great importance to the delegation’s visit. R. Hrustanovic， vice mayor of Belgrade， met with the delegation. He stressed， there exists a traditional friendship between Serbia and Montenegro and China. When meeting with difficulties， Serbia and Montenegro received great support and assistance from the Chinese Government and people， for which the people of Serbia and Montenegro will never forget. The delegation visited Novi Sad， a city that has established friendship-city relations with Changchun. The mayor of the city M. Gojkovic hoped to expand exchanges with other Chinese cities. The delegation also visited Sremski Karlovac， a city with a long history of culture and religion， and the industrial city of Pancevo.

On the day of the delegation’s arrival in Bulgaria， Yanaki Stoilov， chairman of the Legal Affairs Committee of the Bulgarian parliament---the National Assembly---and chairman of the parliamentary Bulgaria-China Friendship Group， met with the delegation. He said， the parliamentary Bulgaria-China Friendship Group， one of the first friendship-with-China organizations founded in the country， now has members from all political parties， who are working hard to promote friendship and cooperation between the people of our two countries. N. Popov and D. Todorov， president and vice president of the Federation for Bulgarian-Chinese Friendship， accompanied the delegation on its visit in Bulgaria despite their old age.

The Bulgarian side made a special arrangement for the delegation to visit Shoumen to promote the friendly and cooperative relations between the city and Zhengzhou. Gao Jianhui， vice mayor of Zhengzhou and a member of the delegation， and the mayor of Shoumen believed that the two cities are highly complementary and that there is great potential for cooperation. The two sides signed a letter of intent on the establishment of friendly and cooperative relations and the agreement will be signed in 2006 when the Bulgarian side visits China.