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Hans Dijkstal, former Netherlands deputy prime minister and current chairman of the Board of Atlantic & Pacific Exchange Programme (APEP) of the Netherlands, headed a 12-member goodwill delegation to visit Beijing and Shanghai from May 25 to 31 at the invitation of the CPAFFC. Chen Haosu, president of the CPAFFC, Tang Dengjie, vice mayor of Shanghai and Zhou Muyao, president of the Shanghai Municipal Peoples Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (SMPAFFC) met with the delegation respectively.

Promoting exchange of information and deepening mutual understanding. The CPAFFC organized for the delegation a seminar on China, which was presided over by its vice president Li Jianping. Leading members from the Ministry of Finance, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, and the National Council for Social Security Fund attended the seminar and spoke about Chinas social security system, the management and the use of social security fund, the employment policy for the floating population, social relief for poor people as well as the supervision and management of food and agricultural products. The delegation exchanged information and experience in these areas with the speakers and held that China has made remarkable progress in the field of social security, which is conducive to maintaining a stable livelihood for the people and continuous development of society. They expressed the hope to have closer exchanges and cooperation with the Chinese side in the areas of social security fund, food and import and export of agricultural products.

The delegation visited farmers at their homes in Mutianyu Village in Beijing. The members of the delegation had deep impressions of the visit and were satisfied to hear positive appraisals of Chinas reform and opening up from common people. They believed that life of the Chinese people would become better and better and society would advance in a steady way.

Forging close cooperative ties and expanding fields of cooperation. When meeting with the delegation, CPAFFC President Chen Haosu expressed appreciation of the work done by the APEP over the years to enhance mutual understanding and friendship between the people of the two countries and hoped that the two sides would continue to cooperate on more projects. President Chen briefed the delegation on Chinas reform and opening up, the building of a socialist harmonious society and the earthquake relief efforts made by the people of the whole country under the leadership of the government. He pointed out, the building of a harmonious world is a global concept worth of attention. The world is colourful because there are differences and the world will become more beautiful if common language exceeds differences. During the meeting, President Chen presented to the delegation a commemorative plaque to congratulate the APEP on the 25th anniversary of its founding this year. Chairman Hans Dijkstal said, he was very happy to receive congratulations from the CPAFFC for APEPs 25th anniversary. He noted, cooperation between the APEP and the CPAFFC has got fruitful and satisfactory results since the two organizations established cooperative relations in 1991 when President Chen led a delegation to visit the Netherlands. He said, the APEP would like to maintain long-term cooperative relations with the CPAFFC and make fresh contributions to exchanges and cooperation in various fields between the Netherlands and China. Chairman Dijkstal held, competition exists in the world, but it should be conducted in a peaceful way. The development China has achieved in the past several decades and its growing ability for social activities will produce positive influence not only on China, but also on Asia and even the whole world. He sincerely wished the Beijing Olympic Games a full success. At the meeting, Chairman Dijkstal, on behalf of all the members of the delegation and himself, expressed sympathy and solicitude to the people in the earthquake-affected areas in Sichuan and praised the quick response of the Chinese government of various levels to the tremendous natural disaster and the national spirit demonstrated in the relief efforts. The APEP would consider providing assistance to the reconstruction of the disaster-stricken areas in Sichuan and according to the needs of the Chinese side, send specialists in the treatment of water and soil contamination to the quake areas to make investigation and draw a working plan.

Strengthening contacts between localities and promoting practical cooperation. Shanghai Vice Mayor Tang Dengjie and SMPAFFC President Zhou Muyao met with the delegation on separate occasions. The two sides expressed satisfaction with the successful cooperation between Shanghai and Rotterdam, the two friendship cities and agreed to deepen cooperation and exploit their respective advantages to promote the continuous development of the two cities. After the earthquake hit Sichuan, Rotterdam donated 100,000 euros to the disaster areas. At present, the Shanghai Construction Group is cooperating with Rotterdam to build a European-Chinese centre in Katendrecht, port area of Rotterdam. The agreement on the project will be signed in Shanghai in June. The construction is expected to start in February of 2009 and complete at the end of 2011.