１０ｔｈ Ｃｈｉｎａ－Ｊａｐａｎ－Ｋｏｒｅａ Ｆｒｉｅｎｄｓｈｉｐ Ｃｉｔｉｅｓ Ｃｏｎｆｅｒｅｎｃｅ Ｈｅｌｄ ｉｎ ＲＯＫ

The 10th China-Japan-Korea Friendship Cities Conference was held in South Cholla， the Republic of Korea from November 4 to 5， 2008. About 300 representatives of local governments of the three countries came to the conference. CPAFFC President Chen Haosu led a 41-member Chinese delegation attended the event.

Jointly held by the China International Friendship Cities Association (CIFCA)， the Korea Local Authorities Foundation for International Relations (KLAFIR)， and the Council of Local Authorities for International Relations (CLAIR) of Japan， the China-Japan-Korea Friendship Cities Conference has been hosted in turns by the three countries starting 1999. The successful holding of the conference in the past decade has made it an important platform for the local governments of the three countries to carry out exchanges and information communication. The theme of this year’s conference is “activating local economy， promoting regional development”.

On the evening of November 4， the welcoming reception and opening ceremony of the conference were held in Yeongam county of South Cholla. Park Joon-yung， governor of South Cholla， delivered his welcoming speech as the host and Lee Sang-ho， president of the KLAFIR， spoke on behalf of the organizers of the conference. President Chen Haosu and Michihiro Kayama， chairman of the Board of Directors of the CLAIR also made remarks on the occasion. The three sides unanimously emphasized that it was of great significance that the local governments of China， Japan and Korea strengthened their cooperation in the current international economic situation.

The plenary session on November 5 consisted of three contents: Jung Yong-duck， president of the Korea Institute of Public Administration (KIPA)， made a keynote speech entitled How to Further Promote Regional Development， examining the issue of unbalanced regional development from the academic perspective; Vice Governor Park of South Cholla and Ding Zhanghua， secretary of the CPC Committeeof the Foreign Affairs Office of the Yangzhou Municipal Government， China， and Kiyoshi Ejima， mayor of Shimonoseki， Japan， gave their keynote speeches on the theme of the conference， talking about their local social and economic development strategies from local administration perspective; Three representatives from each of the three countries briefed about their own successful experience in developing tourism resources， protecting ecological environment and promoting convention and exhibition industry， and had discussions with participants present.

At the closing ceremony of the conference， the South Cholla Declaration was adopted by all participants. It was announced at the conference that the 11th China-Japan-Korea Friendship Cities Conference would be held in Changchun， China in 2009. Bo Zhongtang， deputy director of the Foreign Affairs Office of the Changchun Municipal Government， on behalf of the next host city， sincerely invited the representatives of the three countries. A short video and an erhu solo performance with typical Chinese flavour let them see and feel the city’s charm in advance.

Local government representatives from China， Japan and Korea actively participated in the conference， making full use of the event as a platform for exchanges and interaction. Besides speaking at the conference they distributed material on their own cities. At the same time， they learned about stories of success and gathered valuable information as they listened to others. During the conference， two pairs of friendship-city relationship were established between Chinese and Korean cities. Before the opening ceremony， Liang Yinan， mayor of Longquan of Zhejiang Province， led a delegation to Gangjin County， Korea for a visit and signed the agreement on twinning friendship cities between Longquan and Gangjin County with the Korean counterpart. At the closing ceremony， Huang Yujian， mayor of Zhangshu of Jiangxi Province， and Eom Tae-young， mayor of Jecheon of Ko- rea， signed the Agreement on the Establishment of Friendship-City Relations between Zhangshu and Jecheon.

At the banquet of the closing ceremony， 5 female musicians from China， Japan and Korea teamed up and formed a folk music band called “Lulu” and played traditional music with 5 traditional stringed instruments of the three countries. This harmonious music brought the event up to its climax. It was shared by all participating representatives that after 10-year’s efforts， the China-Japan-Korea Friendship Cities Conference has become a cheerful gala for the reunion and exchanges of the local governments.