Ｄｅｌｅｇａｔｉｏｎ ｏｆ Ｓｒｉ Ｌａｎｋａ－Ｃｈｉｎａ Ｓｏｃｉｅｔｙ Ｖｉｓｉｔｓ Ｃｈｉｎａ

Invited by the CPAFFC， a delegation of Sri Lanka-China Society (SLCS) led by its vice president Mr. G. A. Hidellarachchi visited Beijing， Tianjin and Shanghai from August 3 to 10.

Promoting People-to-People Friendship

This year is the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Sri Lanka and the Year of China-Sri Lanka Friendship. Both the SLCS and the CPAFFC grasped this opportunity to carry out exchanges to strengthen friendship between the people of the two countries.

SLCS is one of the main friendship-with-China organizations in Sri Lanka and maintains good relations with the CPAFFC. In May this year， CPAFFC Vice President Wang Yunze headed a delegation to visit Sri Lanka and conferred on five friendly personages of the Society the Awards of Contribution to China-Sri Lanka Friendship. The delegation of SLCS brought with it on this visit Golden Jubilee Celebrations published by the Society to mark 50 years of Sri Lanka-China diplomatic ties. Included in this special publication are CPAFFC President Chen Haosu’s New Year message sent to the Society at the beginning of 2007 and news reports of the contacts between the CPAFFC and the SLCS. Leader of the delegation Hidellarachchi spoke highly of the important role played by the CPAFFC in promoting people-to-people exchanges between Sri Lanka and China and expressed that the SLCS would continue to work hard for the development of the friendly bilateral relations.

Learning China’s Development

Through the visit the delegation learned the development in China from different angles at various levels. The scientific outlook on development is the comprehensive thinking and basic view on the nature， purpose， contents and requirements of development in contemporary China. To enable the guests to have a better understanding of this outlook， CPAFFC Vice President Feng Zuoku when meeting with the delegation presented each member a copy of Introduction to the Scientific Outlook on Development in English， which they received with pleasure.

Through the visits to the Beijing Planning Exhibition Hall， the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Centre， the Changhuali Community of Huayuan Street in Tianjin’s Nankai District and the Cultural Centre of the Second Ruijin Street in Shanghai’s Luwan District， the delegation members had deep impressions of the development and changes in Chinese cities and the life of ordinary people. They said that China’s social development as well as its building of harmonious communities provided good reference for the development of Sri Lanka and its reconstruction after the tsunami. They expressed that they would write articles about what they have seen and heard in China so that more people in Sri Lanka would know about China and more firmly resolve to plunge themselves into the construction and social development of their country.

While in Beijing， the delegation had a working conference on future exchanges with the CPAFFC. The two sides expressed the willingness to continue to make efforts to enhance mutual understanding and promote common development.