Ｒｅｃｅｐｔｉｏｎ Ｍａｒｋｉｎｇ Ｅｓｔａｂｌｉｓｈｍｅｎｔ ｏｆ Ｃｈｉｎａ－Ｏｍａｎ Ｆｒｉｅｎｄｓｈｉｐ Ａｓｓｏｃｉａｔｉｏｎ， Ｏｍａｎ－Ｃｈｉｎａ Ｆｒｉｅｎｄｓｈｉｐ Ａｓｓｏｃｉａｔ

On June 28， the CPAFFC and the China-Arab Friendship Association (CAFA) jointly held a grand reception celebrating the establishment of the China-Oman Friendship Association (COFA)， the Oman-China Friendship Association (OCFA) and the China-Oman Friendly Exchange Fund (COFEF). Tomur Dawamat， president of the CAFA， Yang Fuchang， president of the COFA， Abdullah Saleh Al Saadi， Omani ambassador to China， Mhd Kheir Al-Wadi， dean of the diplomatic corps of Arab countries in China， and Feng Zuoku， vice president of the CPAFFC and chairman of the China Friendship Foundation for Peace and Development (CFFPD)， attended and spoke at the reception.

In his speech， Tomur Dawamat thanked Ambassador Abdullah Saleh Al Saadi and well-known Omani entrepreneur Dr. Omar Zawawi for what they had done for the establishment of the COFA， the OCFA and the COFEF as well as their full support and financial assistance for the cause of people-to-people friendly exchanges between the Chinese and Arab people. He said， this is a milestone in the history of Sino-Omani nongovernmental friendly relations， a result of the development of friendship between the two peoples， clearly reflecting the concern and importance given by the two governments to the promotion of the nongovernmental friendly relations. He believed， the two friendship associations and the Exchange Fund would become the windows and bridges of nongovernmental exchanges between the two peoples， and make contributions to the development of Sino-Arab nongovernmental friendly relations.

Ambassador Abdullah Saleh Al Saadi said， the exchanges between the Chinese and Arab people could be traced back to thousands of years ago; there used to be close communications in the fields of economy， trade， culture and knowledge. Sohar of Oman once was the passageway to the Arab region from China. He hoped the two newly established friendship associations would set up an efficient cooperation mechanism for mutual exchanges. In order to expand the basis for friendly exchanges， the COFEF was jointly established by the two sides， aimed at increasing exchange of visits between youth and art organizations and strengthening cultural exchanges.

At the reception， Ambassador Abdullah Saleh Al Saadi announced that Dr. Omar Zawawi donated 500，000 RMB yuan through his company to the COFEF as the starting fund.

Upon receiving the donation， CFFPD Chairman Feng Zuoku said that the establishment of the two friendship associations and the Fund would further enhance the development of bilateral relations， and especially， money raised by the Fund would ease CAFA’s shortage of fund， enabling it to carry out various activities such as nongovernmental exchange of visits and forums. He hoped that both sides would make efforts to encourage more donations from personages of all circles to the cause of development of Sino-Arab friendship.

At the reception， CFFPD Chairman Feng Zuoku presented the Omani Ambassador the Certificate of Gratitude and the Award for Contribution to Peace and Development.