ＣＰＡＦＦＣ Ｖｉｃｅ Ｐｒｅｓｉｄｅｎｔ Ｌｉ Ｘｉａｏｌｉｎ ａｎｄ Ｈｅｒ Ｐａｒｔｙ Ｖｉｓｉｔ Ｎｅｗ Ｚｅａｌａｎｄ，ｔｈｅ Ｃｏｏｋ Ｉｓｌａｎｄｓ ａｎｄ Ｓａｍｏａ

Invited by Sister Cities New Zealand (SCNZ)， New Zealand China Friendship Society (NZCFS)， and the governments of the Cook Islands and Samoa， a CPAFFC delegation led by its vice president Li Xiaolin visited the above three countries from April 21 to May 1， during which it attended the 2007 Sister Cities New Zealand Conference held in Te Anau and the commemoration of the 110th anniversary of the birth of Rewi Alley co-sponsored by the Christchurch City Government and the NZCFS Christchurch Branch in New Zealand.

2007 Sister Cities New Zealand Conference

2007 Sister Cities New Zealand Conference with the theme of “For all of us and the generations that follow” aimed at promoting exchanges among the youth of all countries to enhance understanding and friendship through the channel of friendship cities. CPAFFC Vice President Li Xiaolin and her party and a delegation of local government officials from Beijing Municipality and Guizhou， Anhui， Liaoning and Jiangsu provinces organized and sent by the CPAFFC attended the conference. Vice President Li Xiaolin was invited to speak at the conference. She briefed the participants on the development of Chinese friendship cities. Since 1973 Chinese cities began exchanges with cities in other countries， China has established friendship-city (province， state) relations with 335 province (states) and 1，057 cities in 119 countries， of which Guilin City and Hastings of New Zealand twinned friendship-city ties in 1981， the first pair between the two countries. Up to now， 22 pairs of friendship cities have been twinned between China and New Zealand. The vice president also emphasized the significance of youth exchanges between the two countries. SCNZ President Peter Tennent said in his speech that more and more New Zealand cities showed interest in establishing friendship-city relations with Chinese cities and hoped to use this opportunity to strengthen contacts in the cultural， educational， economic， trade and other fields， which would play a positive role in furthering the friendly relations between the two countries.

Reception in Commemoration of 110th Anniversary of Rewi Alley’s Birth

This year sees the 110th anniversary of the birth of New Zealand friend Rewi Alley. CPAFFC Vice President Li Xiaolin and her party attended the reception in commemoration of the anniversary jointly held by the NZCFS and Garry Moore， mayor of Christchurch City， birth place of Rewi Alley. Those present included NZCFS President Margaret Cooper， councillors of Christchurch， the principal of Rewi Alley Chinese School， members of the NZCFS Christchurch Branch， and recipients of Rewi Alley scholarship. In his speech Mayor Moore extended welcome to Li Xiaolin and her party on behalf of Alley’s home town. He said， he had just returned from a visit to China. Christchurch’s friendly relations with China started by Rewi Alley 80 years ago. What he is doing now is to follow the footsteps of Rewi Alley. Christchurch has carried out many exchanges with Lanzhou and Wuhan， its friendship cities in China and hopes to make joint efforts with them to further exchanges at various levels. Vice President Li Xiaolin made a speech upon invitation. She said， Rewi Alley was an old friend of the Chinese people. The CPAFFC would， in September this year， hold activities to commemorate the 110th anniversary of the birth of Rewi Alley， the 80th anniversary of his arrival in China and the 20th anniversary of his passing away. She expressed the hope that China and New Zealand would carry out more exchanges and cooperation in the political， economic and trade， cultural and other fields. NZCFS President Cooper said in her speech that she hoped more New Zealanders would know about Rewi Alley and like him join the rank for promoting friendship between the people of New Zealand and China.

In the Cook Islands and Samoa

The 10th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the Cook Islands falls in 2007. The government of the Cook Islands attached great importance to the delegation’s visit. Deputy Prime Minister Terepai Maoate met with the delegation in his office. On the question of Taiwan， he said， the Cook Islands has always adhered to the one-China principle and will not change this stance in the future. He pointed out， the friendly relations between the Cook Islands and China did not start on the date of the establishment of diplomatic relations 10 years ago， but went back more than 40 years ago. He thanked the Chinese Government for providing selfless assistance. In their meetings with the delegation， the foreign minister and the agricultural minister of the Cook Islands also stressed the above stance.

In Samoa， Speaker of the Legislative Assembly Tolofuaivalelei Falemoe Leiataua had a luncheon with Vice President Li Xiaolin. The speaker said that Samoa-China relations are stable and that Samoa will not change its stance on the Taiwan question.