ＣＰＡＦＦＣ Ｄｅｌｅｇａｔｉｏｎ Ｌｅｄ ｂｙ Ｐｒｅｓｉｄｅｎｔ Ｃｈｅｎ Ｈａｏｓｕ Ｖｉｓｉｔｓ Ａｕｓｔｒｉａ ａｎｄ Ｇｅｒｍａｎｙ

At the invitation of the Austrian Association for Promotion of Friendship and Cultural Relations with China (AAPFCRC) and the Hanns Seidel Foundation， a CPAFFC delegation led by its president Chen Haosu paid a goodwill visit to Austria and Germany from September 27 to October 4， 2006.

Austrian President Meeting with Chen Haosu

On October 2， Austrian President Dr. Heinz Fischer met with CPAFFC President Chen Haosu， and expressed his welcome to the delegation’s visit to Austria and participation in the Year of China on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of the establishment of Austria-China diplomatic relations.

President Fischer said， China is Austria’s important partner in Asia. The cooperation between the two countries is a good example of successful cooperation between countries of different social systems. Now is the best period of bilateral relations since the establishment of diplomatic ties. The Austrian people have friendly sentiments towards China. There will be over 100 items of activities in the “Year of China”. Austria appreciates China’s positive response to and support of the “Year of China” in Austria. President Fischer spoke highly of the “Year of China” in Austria cosponsored by the AAPFCRC and the CPAFFC， and happily recalled his visit to China at the invitation of the CPAFFC. He said， many eminent Austrian statesmen have visited China at the invitation of the CPAFFC， which helped deepen their understanding of China.

President Fischer said， Austria has just held the general election；its policy towards China will not change because of the change of the administration. If there are any changes， they will only be changes for the better.

In his talk with Chen Haosu， President Fischer quoted the Chinese saying “Seeing for oneself is better than hearing from others” and “A thousand li journey is started by taking the first step”， showing his love for Chinese culture.

Chen Haosu thanked President Fischer for finding time to meet with him in the midst of pressing affairs. Chen said， the Chinese leaders attach great importance to the friendly activity of the “Year of China” held in Austria. President Hu Jintao sent a message of congratulations. The AAPFCRC has done a great deal of work for it. The CPAFFC， as a coordinating organization on the Chinese side， has had pleasant cooperation with the AAPFCRC. Chen recalled the friendly relations between the two countries， particularly between the AAPFCRC and the CPAFFC in the past 35 years since the two countries established diplomatic relations and briefed about the Second Austria-China Friendship-City Conference. Chen hoped that the partnership between the localities of the two countries would be further deepened with the development of friendly relations between the two countries.

At the end of his talk， Chen also quoted a Chinese saying “One generation plants the trees in whose shade another generation rests”. He said， our achievements have been made on the foundation built by our forefathers. We， workers for people-to-people friendship， should redouble our efforts to carefully attend to the tree of China-Austria friendship.

Second Austria-China Friendship-City Conference

On October 2， the Second Austria-China Friendship-City Conference was held in the conference hall of the Bank of Austria. More than 100 people of various circles of the two countries attended the conference. At the conference cooperation between localities of the two countries as well as in other fields was discussed. The convening of the conference pushed the activity of the “Year of China” to a new climax.

Mrs. Anna Elisabeth Haselbach， vice president of the Federal Council; Lu Yonghua， Chinese ambassador to Austria; Dr. Hans Winkler， state secretary of the Foreign Ministry; Chen Haosu， president of the CPAFFC; Dr. Helmut Sohmen， honorary president of the AAPFCRC; Mrs. Karin Gastinger， federal minister of justice; Klaus Liebscher， president of the Austrian National Bank; vice governor of Burgenland State; mayor of Leoben City; mayor of Walz-Sitzenheim City; Wang Shu， former Chinese ambassador to Austria; Gerd Kaminski， executive vice president of the AAPFCRC; Yao Mingyu， deputy secretary general of the China International Friendship Cities Association and representatives of Guangdong， Gansu， Jilin Provinces and Chongqing Municipality attended and spoke at the conference.

In his speech， Chen Haosu expounded China’s stance of peaceful development on its own and building a harmonious world， and briefed about the aim and the present situation of China’s international friendship city work. He said， cooperation between the local governments of various countries is a solid basis for establishing friendly relations between countries and building a harmonious world. He expressed his willingness to make unremitting efforts together with international friends to achieve this end.

Participants of the conference reviewed the history of friendly exchanges and cooperation between China and Austria in the fields of politics， economy， finance， judicature， culture and education since the two countries established diplomatic relations， summed up experience in friendly cooperation between the localities and held that friendship city ties， one of the bases of China-Austria friendly relations， should be given high priority. At present there are 12 pairs of friendship cities (provinces/states) between the two countries. Compared with the national strength of the two countries， friendship cities have great potential of development in both quality and quantity.

Attending Rosthorn Medal Conferment Ceremony

Chen Haosu and his party attended the ceremony of the conferment of the Rosthorn Medal in the Austrian Parliament Building on the evening of October 2.Mrs. Anna Elisabeth Haselbach， vice president of the Federal Council， among more than 200 people， attended the ceremony. Five Austrian personages including Alfred Gusenbauer， chairman of the SPOE Party， and Karl Blecha， former federal minister of the interior， and Zhu Liang， former minister of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee， were awarded the medal. Chinese Ambassador Lu Yonghua， on behalf of Zhu Liang， took the medal.

The medal set up by the AAPFCRC is aimed at commending those personages who have made outstanding contributions to Austria-China friendship. Wu Xueqian was once awarded the medal.

“Year of China” in Austria ShowsSino-Austrian Friendship

Walter Strutzenberger， president of the AAPFCRC and former executive vice president of the Federal Council; Mrs. Anna Haselbach， vice president of the Federal Council， Dr. Sigurd Bauer， deputy director of the National Council， and the Overseas Chinese Committee of the AAPFCRC held banquets respectively in honour of Chen Haosu and his party. In their talk the “Year of China” was the topical subject. They said that thanks to the activities of the “Year of China” there had appeared a China craze in Austria.

On January 30， 2006 a grand opening ceremony of the “Year of China” was held. Austrian President Fischer， among about 500 people， attended it. There are many kinds of activities in the “Year of China”. Forums on various fields including economy and trade， literature， arts， law， traditional Chinese medicine， tourism， environmental protection， friendly cooperation between the localities of the two countries， ageing problems， horticulture， etc. were held. A variety of exhibitions were mounted including the exhibitions of Chinese ink and wash paintings， Chinese ancient books of the Ming and Qing Dynasties， Jinhua wood carvings， Hunan shadow play figures， works by Tianjin artists， Shanghai Yuyuan papercut， photos of the impression of China’s western region， the history of Austria-China relations， picture posters during the period of the Chinese revolution， local customs of old Shanghai， photos of the World Cultural Heritage Zhangjiajie， etc. Rich and colourful performances were staged. The Chinese New Year Concert was held in the Golden Hall. Following it many Chinese groups were invited to give performances in Austria including the performing group of the Chinese folk art， the Chinese middle school students’ Tom-Tom Musical， the Sichuan opera troupe， the Hunan shadow play troupe andthe Qiqihar SOS children village art group. In addition， in order to enhance Austrian people’s understanding of China， the AAPFCRC sent several high-level delegations to visit China including the delegations of high-ranking personages， the Austria-China Law Association， women politicians and deputy secretaries general of the Austrian Parliament.

All these activities have fully proved what President Fischer said in his message of congratulations on the “Year of China”: “Rich and colourful activities of the Year of China will surely further shorten the distance between Austria and China.”

Opening Ceremony of Photo Exhibition of

Impression of China’s Western Region in Germany

On September 29 at the International Conference Centre of the Hanns Seidel Foundation， the CPAFFC delegation attended the opening ceremony of the photo exhibition of the Impression of China’s Western Region jointly sponsored by the CPAFFC and the German Hanns Seidel Foundation. The 50 photos at the exhibition mainly show the history， people’s life and customs and scenery of China’s western region， displaying another aspect of China to the German viewers.

In his speech， CPAFFC President Chen Haosu said， China’s western region has a vast space， rich natural resources， beautiful scenery and unsophisticated local traits. China is now advocating building a harmonious society and making efforts to narrow the gap between the eastern and western regions. Foreign friends should not only go to Beijing and Shanghai， they should also go to China’s western region so that they can understand China more comprehensively.

More than 100 people including president of the Constitutional Court of Bavaria State and chairman of the Hanns Seidel Foundation were present at the opening ceremony.

Meeting with President of the Bavarian Diet

On September 28， Chen Haosu met with Alois Glueck， president of the Bavarian Diet and vice chairman of the Hanns Seidel Foundation， who visited China in May 2005 at the invitation of the CPAFFC.

President Alois Glueck happily recalled his visit to China and thanked the CPAFFC for its meticulous arrangement for the visit. He said， the Bavarian Diet and government very much support the projects the Seidel Foundation has carried out in China for they are beneficial to the people. He said that after visiting China’s western region he felt that there existed regional differences in China’s development， and that quite many people still lived in poverty. And， therefore， we should continue to work together and shift the focus of our cooperation to China’s western region.

President Chen said， Bavaria is a state with the strongest economic strength in Germany. It has successfully transformed its agricultural and stock farming economy to high-tech industry in a short span of 60 years. There are many things for China to learn from. We are glad to see that Bavaria has two friendship provinces in China: Shandong and Guangdong. The two sides have carried out substantial cooperation in extensive fields. Chen hoped that this partnership between localities on the basis of equality and mutual benefits would make new contributions to the development of relations between the two countries. Chen said， the exchanges between members of parliaments of the two countries organized by the CPAFFC and the Foundation is very successful. He hoped that the Bavarian Diet would continue to give its support.