Vice President Xie Yuan met with Becky Carter, special representative and daughter-in-law of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, on April 30th in Beijing. Vice President Xie extended warm welcome to Becky and appreciated the long-term efforts President Carter and his family have made towards pushing forward the China-U.S. relationship. He spoke highly of the pragmatic cooperation between CPAFFC and Cater Center during the past two decades and hoped to maintain a good relationship with Carter Center as it has been. Becky Carter thanked CPAFFC for the support and recognition to the Carter family and Cater Center. She said that President Carter attached great importance to the U.S.-China relations. The Carter family as well as the Carter Center would like to continuously make their own contributions to this significant relationship.            Photographed by Jin Hanghang

On April 27th, President Tang Jiaxuan of China-Japan Friendship Association met with Mr. Nikai Toshihiro, the Special Envoy of Japanese Prime Minister and Secretary General of Liberal Democratic Party of Japan and his delegation to the 2nd Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing. Vice President Song Jingwu of the CPAFFC, Counselor Xue Jian from the Chinese MFA, Deputy Director General Zhu Dan and Cheng Haibo of the CPAFFC, as well as the Japanese Ambassador to China Yutaka Yokoi also joined the meeting. President Tang welcomed Mr. Nikai’s visit to China for the 2nd Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation as the Special Envoy of Japanese Prime Minister. He said that this forum is a great success with positive outcomes.The Belt and Road Initiative is a new platform for exchanges and pragmatic cooperation among all the countries including China and Japan. China welcomes Japan to join the Belt and Road Initiative and continuously inject new impetus into the exchanges and cooperation and the bilateral ties between China and Japan.  President Tang said, after a period of twists and turns, China-Japan ties are in a sound momentum with exchanges and cooperation in various fields showing steady improvement. China and Japan should meet each other half way with concerted efforts and promote new achievements in the bilateral relations. The future of China-Japan ties lie in the hands of our youth, this year is the Youth Exchanges Facilitating Year between China and Japan. In cooperation with our Japanese partners we will keep building up the basis of China-Japan relations through in-depth youth exchanges.   Mr. Nikai congratulated China on the success of the 2nd Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation and said that today’s positive outcomes will become tomorrow’s fruits. People to people contacts especially youth exchanges are of great importance, he is willing to make new contributions to youth exchanges and friendly relations between Japan and China.           Photographed by Zeng Guangming

At the invitation of CPAFFC, H. E. Ph.D Sinlavong KHOUTPHAYTHOUNE, member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of People’s Revolutionary Party of the Laos and Party Secretary and Governor of Vientiane, led a delegation of 22 people including government officials and entrepreneurs to visit Beijing from April 24 to 27 and attended the thematic forum on Sub-national Corporation under the Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation.   Sinlavong KHOUTPHAYTHOUNE made a speech on the Opening ceremony of the thematic forum on Sub-national Corporation Sinlavong KHOUTPHAYTHOUNE made a speech on the opening ceremony of the thematic forum on Sub-national Corporation. He said that Lao PDR and China are good neighbors with shared future and the Laos-China Comprehensive Strategic and Cooperative Partnership relations enjoys smooth development. The Laos highly praises and fully supports the Belt and Road Initiative proposed by President Xi Jinping and the jointly building projects under Belt and Road Initiative such as Laos-China high speed railway will bring tangible benefits to the Laos. Sinlavong also pointed out that sub-national corporation is of great importance in bilateral ties and the Belt and Road Initiative would promote the development of local government like Vientiane as well as other counterparts both in China and the Laos. During his visit in Beijing, Mr. Cai Qi, member of Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and municipal party secretary of Beijing, met with Governor Sinlavong and his delegation. Mme. Li Xiaolin, President of CPAFFC presented the Award of “Exchange and Cooperation of Chinese Sister City” to H.E. PhD Sinlavong KHOUTPHAYTHOUNE which was awarded to Vientiane in last November. Mme. Lin Yi, Vice President of CPAFFC attended the above-mentioned activities. Governor Sinlavong and his delegation also paid a visit to some Chinese enterprises such as CHEC, NORINCO, CRCC and etc.   Cai Qi met with H.E. PhD Sinlavong KHOUTPHAYTHOUNE Mme. Li Xiaolin present the award to H.E. PhD Sinlavong KHOUTPHAYTHOUNE Meeting with CHEC Meeting with NORINCO Meeting with CRCC     Photographed by Liu Lu

On April 26,  Vice President Lin Yi of CPAFFC met with Mr. Adriano Botelho de Vasconcelos, Advisor to Angolan President in Beijing. Mr. Adriano Botelho de Vasconcelos was visiting China at the invitation of CPAFFC. Madame Lin briefed Mr. Vasconcelos on CPAFFC’s exchanges with Angola. She said that CPAFFC is willing to collaborate with Angolan counterparts and implement the relevant consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries through deepening people-to-people and cultural communication, advancing practical cooperation of local governments and achieve zero breakthrough on the twinning of friendship provinces and cities.  Madame Lin also hoped that Mr. Vasconcelos continue to care for the China-Angola friendship cause and support the work of the friendship associations of the two countries. Mr. Vasconcelos highly appreciated the work of the friendship associations of the two countries. He said that Angola can draw on the experience from the remarkable achievements of China and accelerate the national development. He expressed his willingness to give his full support to the friendship associations, introduce Chinese values to Angola as well as promote the twinning of friendship provinces and cities.   Mr. Vasconcelos thanked the Chinese side for making arrangements for him to attend the Belt and Road CEO Conference during the Second Belt and Road Forum on International Cooperation. He said that the market environment in Angola is gradually improving, which will provide great development opportunities for both state-owned and private enterprises of China.  Madame Lin said that the Belt and Road Initiative is, up to now, the largest public goods provided for the international community by China. The Second Belt and Road Forum on International Cooperation will further strengthen the “hard connectivity” as well as “soft connectivity” between China and other countries in the world so as to realize common development.            Photographed by Xu Yan

Mr. Song Jingwu, vice president of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC), met in Beijing with Mr. TASSO TAKUYA, governor of Iwate –ken, Japan, and his delegation on April 25. Mme. Zhu Dan, deputy director-general of Department of Japanese Affairs of CPAFFC, Mr. Li Jiming, director general of Foreign Affairs Office of Yunnan Provincial People’s Government, Mme. Zhou Hong, president of Yunnan People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, attended the meeting. Vice President Song Jingwu extended welcome to Governor TASSO TAKUYA for paying special visit in Beijing to attend Local Government Sub-forum of the Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF). He said, although the Sino-Japanese relations confronted with difficulties, the two countries have been developing the exchanges and cooperation between the local governments, which boosted the improvement of the bilateral ties. The current Sino-Japanese relations have returned to the  normal track with showing positive signs, which are inseparable from the active efforts of the local governments of the two countries including Iwate-ken. The Belt and Road Initiative provided new opportunities for the two countries to deepen cooperation. He expected that China and Japan would take BRF as an opportunity to continuously deepen the exchanges and cooperation, and jointly make more contributions to the peace and development in Asia and the world. Governor TASSO TAKUYA made an introduction about the exchanges situation developed by Iwate-ken and Yunnan province as well as other relevant regions in China. He said, these years, Iwate-ken increasingly developed exchanges with China, which achieved a lot of pragmatic results. He would like to take this opportunity to further deepen the exchanges and cooperation with China in various fields and improve the bilateral relations through jointly participating in the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative.         Photographed by Shen Haiting

On the afternoon of April 25th , jointly hosted by CPAFFC and Beijing Municipal People’s Government, the Thematic Forum on Subnational Cooperation of the Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation was successfully held at China National Convention Center in Beijing. The Forum centers on “Deepening Sub-national Cooperation and Sharing Development Benefits”. More than 300 delegates from mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao,and over 40 countries covering five continents attended the Forum. There were state governors, mayors and their representatives, representatives of numerous international organizations, entrepreneurs, experts, scholars, etc. Madame Li Xiaolin, President of CPAFFC and CIFCA, Mr. Chen Jining, Mayor of Beijing, Madame Carrie Lam, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Mr. Sinlavong Khoutphaythoune, Secretary of CPC Committee and Governor of Vientiane of Lao PDR, Mr. Christian Wulff, Former President of Germany attended the opening ceremony and delivered speeches respectively.    During the meeting, representatives from various countries shared their experience and achievements in Belt and Road local exchanges and discussed future cooperation prospects and opportunities. In their speeches, all governors highly recognized the positive influences of “the Belt and Road Initiative” on local cooperation among countries. They also expressed their expectation to further enhance  exchanges at local and regional level under BRI framework, by actively participating in Belt and Road cooperation, promote local economic and social development and improve people’s wellbeing.  Meanwhile, together with local governments of all countries and guided by the principle of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, they hope to strengthen dialogue and cooperation, continue to develop friendship city relations in an active, pragmatic and gradual manner, and jointly promote Belt and Road construction.   14 local cooperation agreements between China and foreign countries were signed during the forum, involving many aspects such as establishment of friendship city relations, people-to-people exchanges, economic and trade cooperation. These fruitful results have conveyed a positive signal from all parties to deepen local cooperation and work together to promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.             Photographed by Liu Yan

Seminar on U.S. Flying Tigers Heritage in Commemoration of the 40th Anniversary of the Establishment of China-U.S. Diplomatic Relations was co-hosted by the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries(CPAFFC), Foreign Affairs Office of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Guilin Municipal Government in Guilin on April 25, 2019. Themed as “History Shows the Way forward for the Future: Meeting Challenges Together and Expanding Win-win Cooperation”, the seminar has been participated by more than 60 representatives including government officials, experts and scholars, entrepreneurs. Speakers from the Chinese side include Sun Dawei, deputy party secretary of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Zhou Wenzhong, former Chinese Ambassador to the U.S. as well as vice president of China-U.S. Friendship Association, Zhang Heqiang, director general of the American and Oceanian Affairs Department of CPAFFC, Wu Baiyi, director of Institute of American Studies of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Qi Zhenhong, president of China Institute of International Studies, Wu Sichun, director of Institute for International Strategic Studies of Shanghai Institutes for International Studies and Deputy Director Zhou Bo of Lingui District of Guilin city.  Besides, Zhao Leqin, vice chairman of the standing committee of Guangxi people's congress and secretary of CPC Guilin Committee attended the seminar. Speakers from the U.S. side include U.S. Ambassador Terry Branstad, James Whitehead, chairman of the Flying Tigers Historic Organization, Chip Carter, special representative and son of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, Chris Cox, grandson of former U.S. President Richard Nixon and vice president of Bright Sphere Investment Group Asian Company, Larry Jobe, president of the Flying Tigers Historic Organization, Nell Calloway, granddaughter of General Chennault and K.C. Ma, vice president of the Flying Tigers Historic Organization. Director General Zhang Heqiang mentioned in his speech that the traditional cooperative friendship between the Flying Tigers and Chinese people, which dates back to 70 years ago, is playing an enlightening role to the current China-U.S. relations.  This year marks the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and U.S. He would like to review the cooperation history with people from all walks of life in our two countries, pass on the friendship and call on the two peoples to seize opportunities and meet challenges together, making our own contributions to build a coordinated, cooperative and stable China-U.S. relationship as well as building a community with a shared future for mankind. After the seminar, participants also visited the American Flying Tigers Guilin Heritage Park and attended the launching ceremony of the Youth Volunteers’ Action to Protect the Mother River.                            Foreign Affairs Office of Guilin City

On April 25th, Vice President Song Jingwu met with the delegation led by Chairman Okamoto Tamotsu of Council of Local Authorities for International Relations (CLAIR), Japan  who was to attend Local Cooperation Panel of the 2nd Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation at the invitation of the CPAFFC. Vice President Song Jingwu said that with the joint efforts by the government and other sectors of society in the two countries, China-Japan relations have returned to normal track with momentum of active new developments. The CPAFFC and the CLAIR, together with our Korean counterpart, have co-hosted the China-Japan-Korea Friendship Cities Conference for more than two decades in a row. During the rock bottom of the bilateral relations, the CLAIR continued facilitating China-Japan local exchanges and cooperation and made its contributions to bring the bilateral relations back to normal track. Today, the Local Cooperation Panel of the 2nd Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation has been successfully co-hosted by the CPAFFC and Beijing Municipal Government. With China-Japan relations facing opportunities of further improvements, the CPAFF, as Chinese local governments’ major channel for international exchanges, is willing to strengthen coordination with the CLAIR to promote the exchanges and  cooperation between Chinese and Japanese local governments and play an active role in the long term steady developments of China-Japan relations. Chairman Okamoto congratulated the CPAFFC on the success of the Local Cooperation Panel and said that local exchanges and cooperation serve as an important foundation of Japan-China relations, the CLAIR will maintain its close cooperation with the CPAFFC and further promote Japan-China local exchanges and make its due efforts to the further improvement and development of Japan-China relations.         Photographed by Pan Lin 

Vice President Xie Yuan met with representatives of US organizations Sister Cities International and US Sino Friendship Association, attending the Sub-national Cooperation Thematic Forum of the Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (the Second BRF). Vice President Xie introduced that in line with the trend of prospering sub-national cooperation between China and other countries in recent years, the Second BRF sets up for the first time the Sub-national Cooperation Thematic Forum. During the thematic forum, over 100 delegates from around the world will discuss on the achievements and prospects of the sub-national exchanges and cooperation between China and other countries. Xie hoped that the US participants could make full use of this forum to tap the potential of sub-national cooperation with China by expanding areas of cooperation and exploring future contacts, so as to make positive contribution to the development of China-US sub-national cooperation. Carol Lopez, chair-elect of Sister Cities International, expressed that the BRI of China draws great attention worldwide. The Fourth US China Sister Cities Conference, which is scheduled in July in Houston, will also make "Belt and Road" as one of its important topics. Lopez expected to learn more about the BRI through the forum.          Photographed by Zhang Yang

Mr. Song Jingwu, vice president of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC) and vice president of China-Russia Friendship Association (CRFA), met with and held a banquet for Mr. Mezentsev, chairman of Russia-China Friendship Association (RCFA) and chairman of Economic Committee of Russian Federation Council, who was recommended by CPAFFC and was invited to visit China by Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation Organizing Committee on April 24. Both sides had a discussion on the cooperative programs the two organizations developed recently. Russian side expressed appreciation for being invited to attend the Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation and spoke highly of the current achievements the Belt and Road Initiatives had made. Mr. Shen Xin, director-general of Department of European and Asian Affairs of CPAFFC, Mme. Hu Chunmei, associated counsel of Department of European and Asian Affairs of CPAFFC, Mme. O. Melynikova, cultural counselor of the Russian Embassy in China and director-general of Russian Cultural Center (RCC) and etc., attended the meeting.         Photographed by Zheng Chen