ＣＰＡＦＦＣ Ｄｅｌｅｇａｔｉｏｎ Ｖｉｓｉｔｓ Ｉｔａｌｙ ａｎｄ Ｐｏｒｔｕｇａｌ

At the invitation of the Italian Union of Provinces (Unione delle Province d’Italia—UPI) and the League of Portugal-China Lasting Friendship (LPCLF)， the Chinese People’s Friendship Delegation led by Chen Haosu， president of the CPAFFC， and Shi Zuofeng， vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the Gansu Provincial People’s Congress， paid friendly visits to Italy and Portugal from June 15 to 24.

In Italy

In Rome， the delegation met with UPI President Fabio Melilli and Director General Piero Antonelli. The two sides exchanged views on further strengthening the cooperation between their organizations. President Melilli warmly welcomed the delegation. He believed that the exchange of visits between the two organizations is very important to the promotion of cooperation between the localities of the two countries and friendship between the Chinese and Italian people. He hoped that both sides would maintain and strengthen contact and cooperation and add more substantial and concrete contents so as to achieve fruitful development. President Chen said， 2006 was the Year of Italy in China， and a series of activities introducing various aspects of Italy including art， economy and tourism were held in China， which furthered Chinese people’s understanding about Italy. He believed that this visit would further enhance the cooperation between the two organizations and mutual understanding and friendship between the two peoples. When mentioning the cooperation between the two organizations， President Chen said， in the past 26 years since the CPAFFC had contacts with the UPI， the two sides have made unremitting joint efforts to promote mutual understanding between the people， cooperation between the local governments， and peace and development in the world. In the new historical era， our cooperation should be upgraded to a new level along with the development of the times， reinforcing substantive cooperation in all fields between the two countries by implementing concrete programmes.

The delegation attended the banquet celebrating the 45th anniversary of the establishment of the Italy-China Association in Rome. In her speech， President Vittoria Mancini said， in the past 45 years， with the great support of the CPAFFC， the Italy-China Association has always been committed to uphold Chinese people’s interest and safeguard the friendship between the two peoples. Now China is undergoing rapid changes， and the Italy-China Association has adopted new working mode. It will continue to keep in contact with the Italian government and maintain its cooperation with well-known scholars in the cultural circles of China， promote dialogue between the Italian side and the Chinese in Italy so as to contribute to the further integration of the Chinese communities and enterprises with the Italian mainstream society. President Chen highly appreciated the contributions made by the Italy-China Association to Sino-Italian friendship and expressed that the CPAFFC would continue to support the association in its work as always.

The delegation visited the provinces of Siracusa and Ragusa of Sicilia region， and had meetings with governors and officials of the provincial governments. During these meetings and interviews with the local media， President Chen made a brief introduction about the CPAFFC， its aims and tasks， emphasized the purpose of the delegation’s visit to Italy， expressing the hope to enhance exchanges and cooperation between the Chinese and Italian local governments through the efforts of CPAFFC.

Governor Bruno Marziano of Siracusa and Governor Giovanni Franco Antoci of Ragusa said， they hope that the CPAFFC would find Chinese provinces or cities with characteristics complementary to their provinces for twinning friendship ties so as to further strengthen cooperation in economy， trade and culture and between enterprises of the two countries.

In Portugal

On the day of their arrival， the delegation met with President General Goncalves and Vice President Chung Su Sing of the Board of Directors of the LPCLF. The Portuguese side expressed， this visit of the Chinese delegation has great significance and such exchange of visits not only promotes mutual understanding and strengthens mutual respect and cooperation， but also helps the friendship between the two peoples to last generation after generation.

President Chen thanked the League for their warm invitation. He said， the CPAFFC attaches great importance to the friendly cooperation with Portugal， and is happy to see the smooth return of Macau to its motherland in 1999 and the beginning of a new era in the Sino-Portuguese relations. In recent years， the relationship between the two organizations has developed smoothly with the joint efforts by both sides. The LPCLF has done a great deal of work for the friendly cooperation between the two countries. In response， we established the China-Portugal Friendship Association at the beginning of the century， and our relationship has thus become closer. This time， the CPAFFC delegation has included representatives from Gansu Province and Shanghai Municipality， and our purpose is to find new areas of cooperation and the direction of our work is to promote cooperation between provinces and municipalities of the two countries. We should learn from the Portuguese forerunners’ pioneering spirits， with which they opened up the road from Portugal to the world.

The delegation attended the celebration of the 16th anniversary of the establishment of LPCLF.