On June 7, 2025, while attending the Fourth Ningxia Friendship Cities Forum, President Yang Wanming of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC) met with Li Yifei, Secretary of the CPC Committee of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region and Chairman of the Standing Committee of the People's Congress of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

President Yang congratulated the CPC Ningxia Committee on its solid implementation of the important instructions given by President Xi Jinping during his inspection tour of the region, active participation in the Belt and Road Initiative, and steady progress toward high-quality development and greater openness. President Yang said that, as a valuable platform for all parties to improve mutual understanding, deepen friendship and promote cooperation, the forum is expected to create new space for high-quality exchanges between Ningxia and its friendship cities across the globe. The CPAFFC is ready to work closely with Ningxia to put Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy into practice, pool resources, refine cooperation mechanisms, and further strengthen economic, trade and friendship city ties to make people-to-people exchanges more dynamic and effective.

On behalf of the Party Committee and the People's Government of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Li Yifei extended welcome to President Yang and his delegation and expressed gratitude to the CPAFFC for its strong support for Ningxia's opening-up and development. He noted that, Ningxia has thoroughly studied and implemented Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy and the guiding principles of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important speech and instructions during his inspection tour to Ningxia. With a view to serving the overarching interests of China's overall diplomacy, Ningxia has actively participated in and aligned itself with the high-quality joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative. By leveraging the role of its platforms for opening-up, the region has achieved fruitful outcomes in expanding foreign economic and trade exchanges and deepening cooperation with international friendship cities. It is hoped that the CPAFFC would continue to care for and support Ningxia's development, give full play to the unique role of people-to-people diplomacy, and provide guidance and assistance in enhancing the construction of such platforms as the Ningxia Friendship Cities Forum and the Wine Culture and Tourism Expo, jointly broadening opening-up channels, expanding the "circle of friends" among international friendship cities, and attracting more foreign investment and enterprises to Ningxia for exchanges and cooperation. Such efforts will not only spur the high-quality development of the local economy but also showcase, through Ningxia, the bright prospects of Chinese modernization.

Lei Dongsheng, Member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Committee of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region and Secretary-General of the CPC Committee of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, was present at the meeting.