Ｄｅｌｅｇａｔｉｏｎ ｏｆ Ｌｅａｄｅｒｓ ｏｆ Ａｕｓｔｒａｌｉａｎ Ｓｉｓｔｅｒ Ｃｉｔｉｅｓ Ａｓｓｏｃｉａｔｉｏｎ Ｖｉｓｉｔｓ Ｃｈｉｎａ

At the invitation of the CPAFFC， from May 21 to 31， president of the Australian Sister Cities Association (ASCA) Kevin Hill led a delegation of leaders of the Association to visit Beijing， Huhhot， Baotou and Shanghai， and attended the Seminar on China-Australia Friendship Cities. The delegation consisted of members of the Board of Directors of the ASCA and the chief editor of Sister Cities News. CPAFFC President Chen Haosu met with the delegation.

The Seminar on China-Australia Friendship Cities

This year marks the 35th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Australia. Leaders of the China International Friendship Cities Association， the Department of North American and Oceanian Affairs of Chinese Foreign Ministry， the Department of American and Oceanian Affairs of CPAFFC and foreign affairs offices and friendship associations of provinces and municipalities including Beijing， Tianjin， Shaanxi and Shandong attended the seminar. Minister Graham Fletcher of the Australian Embassy in China was invited and participated in the seminar. During the seminar， the participants took the floor one after another， and the two sides reached consensus on the following points: The seminar as such held at the 35th anniversary of diplomatic relations is proved to be very necessary and timely. The exchanges between friendship cities should focus on establishing mutual understanding and trust and making friends extensively. They need not be limited in economy and trade but may include the fields of culture， sports， education etc. Youth are the future of the world， thus， exchanges between the youth should be strengthened to guarantee the sustainability of exchanges between friendship cities. The CPAFFC and the ASCA have played important roles in promoting friendship cities’ sustainable exchanges between China and Australia. Both sides should further strengthen their communications and exchanges. The Australian side also said， China and Australia are relatively close neighbours， and since the ASCA has shifted the focus of its work from Europe and America to the Asia-Pacific region， it hopes to further promote the economic， trade and cultural exchanges with the region. The ASCA will continue to invite the CPAFFC to attend its annual meeting and consider to open international forums during the event to provide all international participants a special opportunity of exchanges.

Discussing Establishment of Friendship-City Relations

During their visit to the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region， the delegation met with Ren Yaping， executive vice chairman of the Autonomous Regional People's Government， Bo Liangen， executive vice mayor of Huhhot， and Liu Kai， vice mayor of Baotou. They said， up to now， cities of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region have not established friendship-city relations with any Australian cities， and they keenly hoped that the ASCA would help make some match. The delegation went to visit the Yili Group and the Baotou Iron and Steel (Group) Co.， Ltd. (Baogang)， and learned that the stud dairy cattle used by Yili Group and the iron ore used by Baogang were all imported from Australia. President Hill said， there existed many similarities in natural conditions between Australia and Inner Mongolia， and the two sides are complementary in economy and trade. He is willing to help the two sides to twin friendship-city ties. The delegation also had contact with representatives of the city of Ordos， exploring the twinning of friendship-city relations between Ordos and Christmas Island of Western Australia.