Ｒｅｐｏｒｔ ｏｎ ｔｈｅ Ｗｏｒｋ ｏｆ Ｅｘｅｃｕｔｉｖｅ Ｃｏｍｍｉｔｔｅｅ ｏｆ ８ｔｈ ＣＰＡＦＦＣ Ｎａｔｉｏｎａｌ Ｃｏｕｎｃｉｌ（Ｅｘｃｅｒｐｔｓ）

The Ninth National Council Meeting of the CPAFFC is now held as scheduled. For the two days， together we will review all the achievements in our work in the past five years， and discuss the guiding principles and tasks of our people-to-people diplomatic work in the next five years.

This year’s National Council consists of 333 members， including group members and specially invited ones. The structure is improved in comparison with the last National Council， better reflecting the broadness and high representative nature of nongovernmental diplomacy.

Review of the Past Five-Year’s Work

In the past five years， the CPAFFC conscientiously upheld the spirit of the speech Comrade Hu Jintao made when receiving the members of its Eighth National Council. Sticking to its aims of enhancing people’s friendship， furthering international cooperation， safeguarding world peace and promoting common development， the CPAFFC has persisted in serving three overall interests: the country’s total diplomacy， development of the motherland， and world peace， and fulfilled the tasks set by the Eighth National Council through continuously expanding the areas， enriching the contents and creating new ways of working， by carrying out all-directional， wide-ranging and multi-channel people-to-people friendly contacts， making innovation through practice and advancing through innovation.

In the past five years， the CPAFFC has received over 1，600 delegations with 19，500 person/times from about 100 countries， sent 640 delegations consisting of more than 8，100 people to some 90 countries， and held 358 celebrations for the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and other countries and other large-scale activities. Hu Jintao， Jiang Zeming， Wu Bangguo， Wen Jiabao， Jia Qinglin， Zeng Qinghong and other major Party and state leaders attended over 100 activities organized by the CPAFFC. Other leaders who were advisers to the CPAFFC participated in many more activities. At present， the CPAFFC has established regular contact with 458 nongovernmental friendship-with-China organizations in 148 countries and international organizations. The CPAFFC has conferred upon 60 foreign friends from 25 countries the title of Friendship Ambassador from 1990 to the end of 2006 and started to confer this title upon senior Chinese personages in the field of people-to-people diplomacy in May 2004.

On May 20， 2004， the CPAFFC organized in Beijing the grand meeting in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of its founding， at which 104 delegations from friendship-with-China organizations of other countries， leaders of relevant ministries， departments and people’s organizations in China and CPAFFC council members， totaling over 700 people， were present. President Hu Jintao delivered an important speech at the meeting， praising the CPAFFC as an important force pushing the development of China’s people-to-people diplomacy. He emphasized， comrades working for people-to-people diplomacy should persistently act under the guidance of Deng Xiaoping Theory and the important thought of Three Represents， fully implement the foreign policies and principles of the Party and state and， in accordance with the requirements of serving total diplomacy， national construction， the great cause of peaceful reunification of the motherland and world peace， strive to open up new prospects for work， so as to better serve the cause of building socialism with Chinese characteristics and promote the solidarity and friendship between the people of all countries.

In September 2005， the CPAFFC invited 380 anti-fascist war veterans and descendants of renowned international friends from 22 countries including Russia， the U.S.， the DPRK， the ROK and Japan to China to participate in the commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression， while activities such as the Friendly Gathering of Chinese and Russian War Veterans， the Reunion of Chinese and US War Veterans After 60 Years and the Meeting of Chinese War Veterans with the Japanese Anti-War League Veterans， were also held. The theme of “never forgetting the past， cherishing peace and creating a better future” was stressed all through these activities， which have exerted wide influence at home and abroad， playing an active role of the people-to-people diplomacy in implementing the principles and policies of China’s total diplomacy and gaining more experience in organizing and coordinating large-scale multilateral nongovernmental activities.

In the past five years， the CPAFFC has been making efforts to improve the layout of its nongovernmental diplomatic work， organizing influential nongovernmental diplomatic activities in different fields and focusing on building more effective working platforms. Through re-election， the leadership of the Chinese-African People’s Friendship Association， the China-Latin America Friendship Association， the China-US People’s Friendship Association and the China-Korea (ROK) Friendship Association have changed， and after the establishment of the China-Arab Friendship Association and the China-EU Association， the China-ASEAN Association and the China-Oceania Friendship Association were set up. Now， the China-Central Asia Association is in preparation. Here， I will talk about our work in the following main aspects in greater detail:

1. Friendly cooperation with the developing countries remains the foothold of our people-to-people diplomacy. In the past five years， the CPAFFC invited over 60 former important political figures， traditional leaders and wives of heads of state of more than 20 Asian， African and Latin American countries to visit China， and promoted all-dimensional cooperation with the developing countries in the fields of politics， economy， culture， parliament， local government， land control， environmental protection， personnel training， etc. In the spring of 2004， a special series Road of Friendship was filmed in cooperation with the Beijing TV Station to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Premier Zhou Enlai’s visit to African countries. In 2005， the Commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of Bandung Conference was held. In 2006， in coordination with the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation， the CPAFFC sponsored selection of the ten Chinese who have deeply moved the African People， published collections of articles on China-Africa cooperation and together with the China Central TV Station filmed the featured documentary Stories of Chinese Aid Workers in Africa. In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the beginning of diplomatic relations between China and Arab countries， the CPAFFC took part in organizing the China-Arab Friendship Conference held in Khartoum， capital of Sudan， giving impetus to the establishment of the Federation of the Arab-China Friendship Associations and designated November 29 as the Day of China-Arab Friendship， and successfully conducted the China-Arab Friendship Tour. On the basis of developing traditional friendly relations， the CPAFFC played an active role in setting up the Latin America and Caribbean Region-China Friendship Federation， expanding the channels and scope of friendly cooperation. To coordinate with the opening of the First Ministerial Conference of the China-Pacific Island Countries Economic Development and Cooperation Forum， the CPAFFC sent delegations of friendship personages and entrepreneurs to visit this region in 2006.

2. Friendly cooperation with neighboring countries is the primary focus in our people-to-people diplomacy. The large-scale activities in commemoration of the establishment of diplomatic relations jointly sponsored by the CPAFFC and the ASEAN and South Asian countries witnessed the presence of presidents and prime ministers of five countries. Friendly exchanges with neighbouring countries continued to develop and the friendship activities were varied and colourful. In 2005， the CPAFFC and the Harbin TV Station sent a film shooting team to 13 land neighbours of China to make the TV series Neighbours. In May 2006， the CPAFFC held the First Conference on China-ASEAN People-to-people Friendship Organizations， during which the Declaration on China-ASEAN People-to-people Friendship and Cooperation was signed and it was decided to hold a meeting every year. In October of the same year， the China-ASEAN Friendship Tour was successfully held. The nongovernmental contacts with the DPRK and Mongolia were frequent and the CPAFFC received former Mongolian president not long ago. The CPAFFC maintains good cooperative relations with five ROK friendship-with-China organizations. The people-to-people friendship work with South Asian countries has made steady development， and the preparation for reelection of the council of the China-India Friendship Association is underway. To keep pace with the increasing influence of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization， the CPAFFC has newly strengthened the nongovernmental exchanges with the central Asian countries， taking the opportunity of the 15th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties.

3. Nongovernmental friendly contact with big countries (big country groups) like the United States， Russia， the European Union and Japan is another focus in our people-to-people diplomacy. Maintaining stable and good nongovernmental contacts with the U.S. is a long-term principle of the CPAFFC in its work. In the past five years， the CPAFFC has received many important political figures from the U.S. including former President George Bush， former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger， former National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft and former Democratic Senator John Edwards. In 2002， the CPAFFC held the commemoration of the 30th anniversary of Issuance of the Shanghai Communiqué. In 2003 and 2005， in the cooperation with former President George Bush， the CPAFFC twice sponsored the China-U.S. Relations Conference held in the U.S. and in China， as a high-ranking nongovernmental communication platform between the two countries. Progress has been made in our contacts with American congressmen; of the 535 congressmen and senators， 74 have visited China at the invitation by the CPAFFC in the past five years. The CPAFFC attaches great importance to contacts with U.S. local government high-ranking officials， and received 83 local legislators， 13 governors and over 400 mayors and municipal officials in the past five years. The CPAFFC successfully sent three “Speaking the Plain Truth” Delegations composed of common Chinese to the U.S. where they had face to face communication with 75 U.S. congressmen.

Russia is a big country and a neighbour with whom China shares its long boundary. It is of great significance to have various pragmatic nongovernmental friendly contacts with Russia. The CPAFFC has joined and shared the work of the Sino-Russian Committee of Friendship， Peace and Development (the Committee of the 21st Century)， playing an active role in the people-to-people exchanges. In June 2002， the CPAFFC held a celebration on the occasion of the 1st anniversary of the Sino-Russian Good-Neighbourly Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation. Together with the Russian Twin Cities International Association， it sponsored the Meeting of Chinese and Russian Friendship Cities in 2002 and 2004， and in 2004， it organized a series of activities， in cooperation with the Russian side， to celebrate the 55th anniversaries of the founding of the People’s Republic of China， the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Russia and the founding of the Russia-China Friendship Association. In 2005 and 2006， the CPAFFC and the China Science and Technology Association held twice the exchanges in popular science between the Chinese and Russian young people. In 2006， the Year of Russia in China， the CPAFFC launched a series of activities to promote cooperation between local governments of the two countries including the 11th Symposium on Sino-Russian Regional Cooperation， and the Recommendation and Introduction of the Federal Districts of Siberia， Northwest and Far East.

Nongovernmental contacts with EU member countries have greatly progressed. In 2002， Euro Road Shows were conducted in several provinces and municipalities as euro came into circulation. In 2004， a briefing was held on the new round of EU enlargement. In 2005， the CPAFFC and the EU diplomatic corps jointly organized the China-EU Art Summer School. Through the efforts made in the past six years， the China-EU Association has become an important channel of nongovernmental cooperation between China and Europe. The China-Spain Forum has been held every year since 2003， becoming a significant platform of high level cooperation between the two countries. During the Year of Chinese Culture in France and the Year of French Culture in China， a good number of nongovernmental and local cooperative programmes were carried out. In October 2005， the CPAFFC and the French side held the First High Level China-France Forum on Local Government Cooperation. Two Sino-British Local Government Seminars were held. Cooperation with German and Austrian friendship organizations has continued to develop. In 2006， Gotheborg， the Swedish replica ship， revisited Guangzhou and Shanghai at the invitation of the CPAFFC.

In the past five years， the Sino-Japanese relations have experienced twists and turns. As certain Japanese government leaders made drawbacks on historical questions， the Sino-Japanese relations were dragged into a deadlock for quite some time. The CPAFFC holding high the banner of Sino-Japanese friendship， and adhering to promoting governmental diplomacy through nongovernmental diplomacy， furthering political relations through economic relations and enhancing people’s friendly feeling through cultural exchanges， did a lot of work for the bilateral relations to get out of the difficult situation. Following the issuance of the Declaration on Promoting Sino-Japanese People’s Friendship in the New Century in January 2001， the Appeal of People-to-People Friendly Cooperation was published in January 2002. Celebrations of the 30th anniversary of the normalization of China-Japan Diplomatic Relations and the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Sino-Japanese Peace and Friendship Treaty were successively held in 2002 and 2003. In 2005， the CPAFFC launched a series of Sino-Japanese people-to-people friendship activities to commemorate the 60th Anniversary of the Victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. In March 2006， the heads of seven Japan-China friendship organizations made a joint visit to China at the invitation of the CPAFFC. During his meeting with the delegation， President Hu Jintao expounded the root cause of the problems in bilateral political relations and the Chinese Government’s principled stand， which had great impact on bilateral relations getting out of the difficulties. In June 2006， the CPAFFC and the Liaoning Provincial People’s Government jointly held the commemoration of the 60th anniversary of repatriation of over one million Japanese emigrants from Huludao. Since October 2006， Sino-Japanese relations have shown relaxation of tension which was welcomed by people of both countries. The CPAFFC closely followed the favourable trend to push forward the nongovernmental contacts and greeted a new upsurge.

4. Actively serving the great cause of peaceful reunification of the motherland and enhancing contacts with countries which have not yet established diplomatic relations with China obtain satisfactory results. In 2004， a CPAFFC delegation visited Guatemala giving impetus to the establishment of the Guatemalan Association of Friendship with the People’s Republic of China. In 2005， the CPAFFC established links with the Sino-Burkinabe Friendship Forum and both sides exchanged useful visits. In 2006， the First China-Central America People-to-people Friendship Forum was successfully held in Mexico. Six countries in this region which have not yet established diplomatic relations with China， set up friendship-with-China organizations and sent representatives to the forum. They declared their political stand for promoting the normalization of relations with China in a joint statement. In March 2007， the Central American Federation of Friendship with China was officially established. Besides， with the help of the CPAFFC， a pair of friendship cities has been twinned between Panama and China， which had pioneering significance.

5. Traditional cultural exchanges extend to new fields. In the past five years， the CPAFFC carried out 180 cultural exchange projects with over 40 countries in the world， organized more than 500 large-scale performances and exhibitions， edited 25 editions of photo series for display in the showcases and published 30 issues of the Chinese edition of Voice of Friendship and the same number of its English edition. The activities to select and award talents in all fields held by the pictorial China’s Talents have produced good influence. Taking 2006 as an example， the CPAFFC and the Japanese Hokushi Seal Cutting Society jointly sponsored the exhibition tour of the Chinese Ancient Writings Series. The CPAFFC organized a performing tour of the Peking Opera Zhuge Kongming in Japan， giving performances in 38 cities with a total audience of 140，000 person/times. Together with the Chinese Embassy in France， it initiated the Paris Chinese Fine Arts Week， during which the best pieces of work by over 60 well-known contemporary Chinese painters were mounted. The 5th Tianjin International Children’s Culture and Art Festival， held by the CPAFFC in cooperation with the Tianjin Municipal People’s Government， attracted 46 art troupes from 40 countries and regions and 48 art troupes from 27 Chinese provinces， regions and municipalities. The CPAFFC organized the 2006 Friendly Competition among Ambassador’s Wives in Knowing Chinese Culture. Together with the All-China Philatelic Federation and the State Post Bureau， the CPAFFC sponsored the 5th Best Foreign Stamp Poll and the number of participating countries increased to 21. In the past five years， the CPAFFC in cooperation with the San Marino Postal Authority issued commemorative stamps， and with the postal authorities of Mozambique， Tanzania， Cuba and Laos， designed， printed and issued stamp series and commemorative envelopes.

6. Good results have been achieved by the CPAFFC in its work to promote international economic and trade exchanges， cooperate with big international enterprises and send personnel for training abroad. In 2002， the CPAFFC organized a delegation of leaders of important domestic energy enterprises to visit Saudi Arabia and Oman in an effort to help China’s giant petroleum enterprises opening up the prospect of tapping oil in the Middle East. In the same year， the Sino-Russian Forum on Science and Technology was held in Moscow， which led to a number of achievements in cooperation in science and technology between the two countries. In 2003， the CPAFFC and the Saudi Arabia-China Friendship Association together initiated the Mixed Committee of Chinese and Saudi Entrepreneurs， and China-Saudi Arabia Economic and Trade Talks were held in Beijing， Xi’an and Shenzhen during which over 3，000 participating Chinese and Saudi Arabian entrepreneurs signed a number of agreements and letters of intent on cooperation. In 2003， the CPAFFC and the Qingdao Municipal People’s Government jointly held briefings in Beijing and Tokyo to attract investments. In 2004， together with the Arab Ambassadors Council in China， the CPAFFC sponsored the China-Arab Economic and Trade Symposium， which was attended by nearly 20 diplomats of Arab countries and led to the launching of cooperation projects between relevant Chinese enterprises and Syria and Tunisia. Entrusted by Bo’ao Forum for Asia， the CPAFFC successfully organized over 100 entrepreneurs to attend Bo’ao Energy Forum for Asia in Iran. In 2005， the CPAFFC held the Meeting on Making Investment in DPRK， following which Tianjin municipality and Korea signed the contract on running a joint bicycle factory.

The CPAFFC cooperated with Citigroup， United Parcel Service and United Technologies Corporation of the U.S. in carrying out projects such as English language training， environmental friendly education aid and reemployment training for laid-off female workers in China’s western region， winning good social benefits.

The China Friendship Foundation for Peace and Development under the CPAFFC has continued to enlarge its fields of work. Now， it has funds for culture， education， sports， health care， environmental protection， western development， rural construction， poverty and disaster relief， personnel training， etc.， with recipients of its aid in 30 provinces， autonomous regions and municipalities and a dozen of countries and regions in the world. The Foundation has raised a total of over 130 million RMB yuan in ten years since its establishment.

In some important sections of national economic development， the CPAFFC enthusiastically organized professional trainings， such as sending personnel in road construction， management and supervision， eco-environment and forest quality evaluation on training courses in the U.S. and Australia. In addition， it sent over 3，000 people to Japan for on-the-job training in construction， laundering and dyeing， aquatic product processing and electronics.

7. Continue to take multilateral international exchanges between NGOs as the point of extension of people-to-people diplomacy. The CPAFFC joined the International Union of Local Authorities (IULA) in 1999 and became a founding member of the International Organization of United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) in May 2004. With its assistance， 9 provinces and cities including Beijing， Shanghai and Tianjin Municipalities and Hunan Province joined the UCLG. In June 2005， the CPAFFC hosted the UCLG World Council Meeting and the World Mayors Forum， at which more than 100 mayors from 38 countries and regions were present.

After becoming a NGO in special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations and member of the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CONGO) in 2001， the CPAFFC became a NGO for association with the Department of Public Information of the UN， and selectively attended a series of multilateral international conferences ever since， to brief on China’s development and explain China’s principled stance on major international political issues.

From 2002 to 2006， the CPAFFC， together with relevant organizations in Japan and the ROK， hosted the China， Japan and ROK Friendship Cities Conference for 5 consecutive years， on the basis of which gratifying progress has been made in the China-Japan-ROK Cultural Exchange Forum.

8. The work of international friendship cities enjoys continuous and healthy development. In the past five years， 331 pairs of friendship-cities/provinces have been twinned between Chinese provinces and cities and their counterparts in other countries. By the end of 2006， 30 Chinese provinces， autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government and 309 cities in China have established 1，401 pairs of friendship-city relations with 335 provinces (states， districts and prefectures) and 1，057 cities in 119 countries. At its 4th Council Meeting held in September 2005， the China International Friendship Cities Association clearly put forth the principles for future development of friendship cities， and in 2006， made suggestions on strengthening classification of friendship cities and giving them proper guidance.

9. Attach importance to close cooperation with local foreign affair offices and friendship associations at all levels. In the past five years， the CPAFFC organized 40 groups with a total of nearly 100 local government officials， especially leaders of western provinces and regions to visit over 50 countries and attend various nongovernmental exchanges and specialized conferences. The Biannual Meeting of Presidents of China’s People’s Associations for Friendship with Foreign Countries was held in 2004 and 2006. A working conference of friendship associations of prefecture-level cities and two training courses for staff of local friendship associations were held. The CPAFFC was invited to participate in and help over 10 provinces， autonomous regions and cities to conduct various exchanges with foreign countries， many of which are influential large-scale projects including the China International Fair for Investment and Trade in Xiamen， the West Lake Expo Hangzhou， the Western China International Economy and Trade Fair， the Dalian International Fashion Fair and the Qingdao Beer Festival.

In May 2004， the 8th National Council of the CPAFFC held a mid-term session and issued a declaration on the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the CPAFFC. The convening of the mid-term session is an innovation， which facilitates the council members to play an active role in people-to-people diplomacy. Within the past five years， because of their age Su Guang and Chen Yongchang retired from their posts of vice presidents which were succeeded by Liu Zhiming and Jing Dunquan. Now， Liu Zhiming has been assigned to work abroad， which means he left his vice presidency. All these changes of members of the Executive Committee are now submitted to the present 9th National Council Meeting for confirmation.

Looking back， while seeing the achievements， we should also see our weakness. We should admit that what we have done is still far from meeting the demands of the development of the situation， which is mainly shown in the relatively weak influence， cohesiveness and creativity of the CPAFFC. Our nongovernmental diplomatic activities’ coverage is quite limited. Some of our work units and platforms for exchanges are not well-known in society， especially the mechanism for making innovations to cope with the new situation has not been established yet. All this should be improved in future. All council members present here are welcome to discuss the weakness of our work and give us your valuable suggestions. Let us strive to further strengthen and improve our people-to-people diplomacy， let a new look of it appear before us.

Tentative Plan for the Work of the 9th National Council

From now to 2012， China’s reform and opening to the outside world and the cause of socialist modernization will enter a new historical stage under the guidance of the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC). In his speech delivered at the UN Summit Commemorating the 60th Anniversary of the Founding of the United Nations in 2005， President Hu Jintao advocated building a harmonious world of lasting peace and common prosperity， which marked that China’s diplomatic stand of upholding justice was establishing greater influence in the whole world. The people-to-people diplomacy to which we are committed should and would make new achievements in this new historical background.

General Secretary Hu Jintao pointed out in his speech at the Central Meeting on Foreign Affairs Work that foreign affairs work should take both the international and domestic situations into consideration. As a component part of the total diplomacy， the people-to-people diplomacy carried out by the CPAFFC should， of course， serve the total diplomacy， development of the motherland and world peace. In serving these three overall interests， the CPAFFC should implement the correct policy of people-to-people diplomacy that we have been carrying out over the years， which is closely related to our aims of enhancing people’s friendship， furthering international cooperation， safeguarding world peace and promoting common development， and the realization of our goal of building a harmonious world. Here is what we are planning to do in future:

The CPAFFC will persist in enhancing people’s friendship as our primary work， staying rooted in the people， focusing on the people and placing hopes on the people; make friends extensively and make close friends in the world， and make new contributions to consolidating and developing the friendship between the Chinese and other peoples and expanding the social mass base for the relations between China and other countries.

The CPAFFC will stick to promoting international cooperation as our main direction， broaden our fields of work with other countries， enhance the awareness of serving the country’s economic construction， actively carry out mutually beneficial economic cooperation， and strengthen international cultural exchanges so as to make new contributions to pushing forward the socialist modernization and promoting the flourish and development of human civilization.

The CPAFFC will take safeguarding world peace and promoting common development as our ultimate aims， and together with the people of all countries make new contributions to building a harmonious world of lasting peace and common prosperity.

The CPAFFC will give full play to our creativity， and continuously improve the layout， enrich the contents， build platforms and create new mechanisms of our work. We have established regional friendship associations with Africa， Arab， Latin America， Oceania， the ASEAN and the EU， and bilateral friendship associations with countries including the DPRK， the ROK， Mongolia， India， Pakistan， Israel， Russia， Japan and the United States. We are considering setting up regional friendship associations with Central Asia， South Asia and Northeast Asia in the future.

The CPAFFC will work hard to expand our influence by maintaining close contact with practical social life at home and abroad and working out the kinds of activity that have wide social coverage.

The CPAFFC will continuously strengthen our cohesiveness， reinforcing unity and coordination with other institutions and organizations， and making joint efforts to open up new prospect for the people-to-people diplomacy.

The CPAFFC will continue to raise the visibility of the highlights of our work， pushing forward the healthy development of international friendship cities’ activities and upgrading cities’ ability in dealing with bilateral and multilateral foreign affairs.

The CPAFFC will build our organization culture around the theme of peace and friendship， and under the guidance of core socialist values， make contributions to enriching and enchanting the cultural content of people-to-people diplomacy.

The CPAFFC will push for innovations both in practice and theory in people-to-people diplomacy under the guidance of Deng Xiaoping Theory， the important thought of Three Represents and the Scientific Outlook on Development.