ＣＰＡＦＦＣ Ｄｅｌｅｇａｔｉｏｎ Ａｔｔｅｎｄｓ Ａｎｎｕａｌ Ｃｏｎｆｅｒｅｎｃｅ ｏｆ Ａｕｓｔｒａｌｉａ Ｓｉｓｔｅｒ Ｃｉｔｉｅｓ Ａｓｓｏｃｉａｔｉｏｎ

At the invitation of the Australia Sister Cities Association (ASCA)， the CPAFFC delegation attended the Annual Conference of ASCA in Devonport of Tasmania State from November 11 to 22， 2006.

The theme of the conference was “Share the Spirit Naturally”， during which approximately 200 participants from different countries discussed how to maintain long lasting friendship-city relations. In addition to local government officials of Australian states and cities and representatives of the ASCA， representatives from relevant organizations of the U.S.， China， New Zealand， Japan and the ROK were also present at the conference. Hon Jim Lloyd， federal minister for local government， and Kevin Hill， president of the ASCA， spoke at the opening ceremony of the conference， expressing that they would continue to make contributions to the establishment of long lasting friendship-city relations and encouraged the states to make more friends for Australia.

International representatives were invited to speak at the conference. Former president of the Sister Cities International (SCI) of the U.S. Nancy Hobert called on people to break through the boundaries between different races and nationalities， and clear up misunderstandings so as to establish long lasting friendship-city relations. Representatives from China， New Zealand， Japan and the ROK briefed each other on their friendship cities’ work， existing challenges and future goals.

The conference invited representatives of Australian cities that had achieved good results in exchanges with their friendship cities to tell their experiences. They were commended at the conference. Leading members of Australian local organizations， scholars and entrepreneurs were invited to speak about their new thinking on how to take advantage of the channels of friendship cities to carry forward exchanges in all fields. Representatives of Darwin， host city of the next annual conference， made an introduction of their city， welcoming all the participants to come at the scheduled time.

At the international forum， Wu Dalai， head of the Chinese delegation spoke on the rostrum， briefing on the development of China’s friendship-city work and expressing the hope to strengthen exchanges and cooperation with sister cities organizations of all countries. During the conference， the Chinese delegation had wide contact with leaders of the ASCA and representatives of other countries， establishing new friendly relations while reviewing old friendship， and discussing possibilities of future exchanges in all fields.