Fifth Council Meeting of China-Russia Friendship Association

The Fifth Council Meeting of the China-Russia Friendship Association (CRFA) was held on March 18 in Beijing.

A congratulatory letter from Mikhail Titarenko， President of the Russia-China Friendship Association to President Chen Haosu was read out at the beginning in which he thanked President Chen Haosu for leading CRFA in its ambitious work to promote the cause of friendship between the two countries， and expressed his confidence that the two friendship organizations would further expand， consolidate and develop the social foundations for a bilateral strategic partnership.

CRFA President Chen Haosu， delivering the work report of the fourth CRFA Council， pointed out that， in the past five years， the CRFA had adhered to the concept of peace and the spirit of the times emphasized in the Sino-Russian Good-Neighborly Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation and conducted various forms of people-to-people diplomatic activities including China-Russia regional cooperation， youth exchange， cultural cooperation， etc. This had helped to strengthen the base of social opinion for the bilateral relations and contributed to the development of non-governmental friendly exchanges and cooperation.

The report noted that for the next five years， the new Council would uphold its aim of serving the Sino-Russian strategic partnership of cooperation， ceaselessly broaden fields of activity， create new forms of work， highlight features of people-to-people exchanges and focus on practical results. The report called for unremitting efforts to promote friendship between the two peoples.

The CRFA， formerly the Sino-Soviet Friendship Association， was established in October 1949; many Party and state leaders including Liu Shaoqi， Soong Ching Ling， Qu Wu， Wu Xiuquan have served as its president.