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China-ASEAN Association President Gu Xiulian Visits Myanmar， Indonesia and Brunei and Attends Second Conference on China-ASEAN People-to-People Friendship Organizations

At the invitation of the Union Solidarity and Development Association of Myanmar (USDA)， the Association of Indonesia-China Economic， Social and Cultural Cooperation (AICESCC) and the Brunei-China Friendship Association (BCFA)， Gu Xiulian， president of the China-ASEAN Association and vice chairperson of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress， led a delegation of the China-ASEAN Association to pay a goodwill visit to Myanmar， Indonesia and Brunei from June 10 to 21 and attended the Second Conference on China-ASEAN People-to-People Friendship Organizations in Bandar Seri Begawan， Brunei.

It was the first time that the China-ASEAN Association organized a delegation to visit ASEAN countries since its founding and also NPC Vice Chairperson Gu Xiulian’s first visit to ASEAN countries in her capacity as president of the China-ASEAN Association. The delegation was accorded warm welcome and reception by the governments and the people of the above three countries. During the visit， Vice Chairperson Gu had friendly in-depth talks with the leaders of the three countries， and met with personages of various circles including government officials， parliamentarians， businessmen and women as well as representatives of the people-to-people friendship organizations. During the visit， 4 memorandums on bilateral cooperation and the Plan of Action on the 10+1 People-to-People Cooperation were signed.

Political Mutual Trust Enhanced

Lt. Gen. Thein Sein， acting prime minister and secretary general of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) of Myanmar; Yusuf Kalla， vice president of Indonesia; Muhaimin Iskandar， acting speaker of the Indonesian House of Representatives， and Crown Prince Al-Muhtadee Billah， Acting Sultan of Brunei， met with Gu Xiulian and her party on separate occasions.

Myanmar’s Acting Prime Minister Lt. Gen. Thein Sein was particularly happy to meet with the high-level Chinese delegation for he had just returned from his visit to China and expressed his thanks to China for its aid and support for Myanmar in the country’s national construction and in the international arena. He hoped that high-level leaders of the two countries would further strengthen exchanges to push forward bilateral friendly relations.

Indonesian Vice President Yusuf Kalla said， the Indonesia-China strategic partnership jointly formed by the heads of state of the two countries should be realized through concerted efforts by the governments， enterprises and non-governmental organizations of the two countries. He expressed his belief that Vice Chairperson Gu’s visit would further strengthen bilateral friendly cooperative relations particularly in the economic field.

In his meeting with Vice Chairperson Gu， Brunei’s Acting Sultan Crown Prince Al-Muhtadee Billah expressed his gladness at the convening of the Second Conference on China-ASEAN People-to-People Friendship Organizations in Brunei and hoped that more international conferences would be held in Brunei.

In her meetings with the leaders of the three countries， Gu said， in achieving its development China not only relies on its own efforts but also needs to strengthen international cooperation. China implements the policy of “friendship and partnership with neighbouring countries” and “fostering a friendly， secure and prosperous neighbourly environment” and is willing to strengthen cooperation with its neighbouring countries to achieve common development.

Role of Nongovernmental Diplomacy Highly Appreciated

In her meetings with the leaders of the three countries， Vice Chairperson Gu briefed about the work of the China-ASEAN Association. Myanmar’s Acting Prime Minister Lt. Gen. Thein Sein spoke highly of the rich and colourful activities carried out by the China-ASEAN Association and the ASEAN countries’ people-to-people friendship organizations in the past few years. He believed that under Gu’s leadership， the China-ASEAN Association would surely make greater achievements. Indonesian Vice President Yusuf Kalla said， he was happy to see China’s efforts to promote the development of its relations with ASEAN， and praised the role played by the China-ASEAN Association in enhancing understanding between the Indonesian and the Chinese people and promoting economic and trade exchanges and cooperation between the two countries. Princess Hajah Masna， Brunei’s ambassador-at-large of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade， said， she believes that the people-to-people friendly exchanges between ASEAN and China will help lay a solid foundation for the cooperation between the two sides in the future. She hoped that China’s and ASEAN’s people-to-people friendship organizations would further support the governments to deepen bilateral strategic partnership.

Nongovernmental Cooperation

1.Meeting with women representatives. Vice Chairperson Gu had cordial meetings and talks with Daw Khin Thet Htay， vice president of the Myanmar Women’s Affairs Federation， Linda Agum Gumelar， chairperson of the Indonesian National Council of Women’s Organization， and Brunei’s Princess Hajah Masna. Gu briefed them on the development of the cause of women in China since the Fourth World Conference on Women and activities carried out by the All-China Women’s Federation under the new situation， detailing the China-ASEAN Women’s Forum and “10+3” women affairs personnel training programme， and made three concrete suggestions on future exchanges: namely， at the opportunity of the China-ASEAN Exposition， strengthening exchanges between women of the two sides and supplying each other’s needs to promote cooperation; strengthening training women and youth personnel and exchanging training; and carrying out large-scale cultural exchange activities at the appropriate time.

2.Signing or witnessing the signing of memorandums on bilateral cooperation. Vice Chairperson Gu and USDA Secretary General U Htay Oo of Myanmar signed the memorandum on cooperation between the China-ASEAN Association and the USDA. In Indonesia， Gu witnessed the signing of the memorandums of cooperation and understanding for 2007-2008 between the Association of China-Indonesia Economic， Social and Cultural Cooperation and the Association of Indonesia-China Economic， Social and Cultural Cooperation， between the China-ASEAN Association and the Indonesian Municipal Councils Association and the Indonesian Regencies Cooperation Agency， and between the Beijing Municipal People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and the AICESCC-West Java Representative. The signing of these memorandums has provided a strong guarantee for conducting cooperation between people-to-people friendship organizations of the two countries.

3.Promoting “10+1” nongovernmental cooperation. At the initiative of Vice Chairperson Gu at the Conference， the representatives of the ASEAN people-to-people friendship organizations fully expressed their views on the draft of the “Plan of Action to Implement the Declaration on China-ASEAN People-to-People Friendship and Cooperation” drawn up by the Chinese side and finally reached consensus. The representatives of the three countries responded actively to the proposal put forward by the Chinese side， and through warm discussions， finally signed the Plan of Action on “10+1” People-to-People Cooperation. The signing of the document has provided a specific plan for promoting friendly cooperation and exchanges between China and ASEAN， and made the Conference actually become an important platform for strengthening dialogue between the Chinese and the ASEAN nongovernmental organizations and an important channel for enhancing mutual understanding between the people of China and various ASEAN countries.

4.Promoting exchanges and cooperation between local governments of the two sides. In Myanmar， Vice Chairperson Gu led the delegation to have talks with Mayor of Yangon Brig. Gen. Aung Thein Lin and other officials of the municipal government. Mayor Aung Thein Lin said， since Yangon and Yangzhou twinned friendship-city ties in 1997， personages of the two cities have had frequent， pragmatic and fruitful exchanges. Yangzhou has provided much aid to Yangon in its construction and development.

At the meeting on exchanges between the local governments of China and Indonesia， Pan Yousheng， vice president of the BMPAFFC， Wu Dalai， vice president of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Regional People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries， and Gong Zhaoxiang， council member of the Sichuan Provincial People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries， respectively briefed about the development of their city， region and province.

In Brunei，Wang Yunze， deputy head of the delegation and vice president of the China-ASEAN Association， led some members of the delegation to pay an official call on Pehin Dato Awang Haji Adanan， minister of home affairs，who said that his visit to Shenzhen last year at the invitation ofMayor of Beijing Wang Qishan left a deep impression on him， and hoped that Brunei would have cooperation with China in many fields in the future.

China-ASEAN Friendship Exhibition Held

During the Conference， the CPAFFC and BCFA jointly held an exhibition on China-ASEAN friendship entitled “Join Hands with ASEAN， Get Together in Brunei” in celebration of the 40th anniversary of the establishment of ASEAN. Vice Chairperson Gu Xiulian and Princess Hajah Masna cut the ribbon for the exhibition， at which beautiful photos of important events of China-ASEAN friendly cooperation， the Olympic Games and the ASEAN， the China-ASEAN friendship tour and art exchanges were displayed.