Vice President Xie Yuan met with the Philadelphia Orchestra delegation on January 9. Vice President Xie spoke highly of the important role played by the Philadelphia Orchestra in promoting China-US people-to-people and cultural exchanges since its first visit to China back in 1973. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between China and the United States. CPAFFC is pleased to assist the Orchestra for its upcoming trip to China within the year. He hoped that the two parties could jointly make positive contribution to the people-to-people exchanges between our two countries through deepening cooperation in the future. Mr. Matias Tarnopolsky, president & CEO of the Philadelphia Orchestra, regarded music as an important tool for countries to carry out people-to-people exchange and foster mutual understanding. It’ll be the 12th visit to China by the Orchestra this year, to which members of the delegation all look forward. The Orchestra wished to strengthen ties with CPAFFC in the years to come, so as to further expand its cooperation with China.        

China Friendship Foundation for Peace and Development Autoperson Development Foundation Annual Conference was held in Beijing on January 8th, 2019. Nearly 50 experts and scholars in this field including Mr. Li Xikui, Secretary General of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC) and Director of China Friendship Foundation for Peace and Development (CFFPD), Mr. Shen Jinjun, President of China Automobile Dealers Association (CADA), Mr. Wang Jing, Secretary General of China Road Traffic Safety Association (CRTSA), Mr. Chi Changsheng, Executive Director of China Leadership Committee, Mr. Zhang Xuan, Chief Executive Officer, Executive Director and Chairman of the Board of YIXIN Group, and etc., attended the conference. Secretary General Li Xikui gave positive comments on the achievements Autoperson Development Foundation had made in 2018. He also pointed out, as the only public welfare foundation under CFFPD, Autoperson Development Foundation would encourage more young people to raise comprehensive capacity through combining their innovative capacity with participation in the social practice activities, so as to give support in talent pools for realizing the great automobile country. During the conference, Autoperson Development Foundation Administration Committee & Working Group ware formally established and inaugurated. At last, guests discussed on the work plans of Autoperson Development Foundation in 2019. They said, automobile industry is in the period of reforming. The development of this industry is inseparable from joint efforts from personages in various fields. They hoped that more people with lofty ideals could take part in this industry, so as to assist the smoothly transformation of China automobile industry.             Photographed by Shao Shuai

On January 8th, Vice President Xie Yuan met with US delegation attending the “Golden week Conference for Chinese script writers ”. The delegation is consisted of Mike Reiss, Emmy Award winner and writer of The Simpsons ,Raymond Singer, writer of Mulan and Mike Ferris, writer of Terminator 3. Vice President Xie Yuan briefed the delegation on the work and function of CPAFFC. He said that cultural exchange is an important part of our bilateral relationship and CPAFFC stands ready to work with US side to spread Chinese culture and enhance understanding and friendship between the two peoples.  Mike Reiss said that China has the most attractive movie market and productions with Chinese elements are very popular . He hoped to create more works about China, so as to promote cultural exchanges between our two countries.            

At the invitation of CPAFFC and through the organization of CUSEF, the Youth Leaders Delegation of Columbia University visits China in January. On January 3rd, Mr. Zhang Heqiang, Director General of Department of American and Oceanian Affairs, met with and held welcome luncheon for the delegation in Beijing. Director General Zhang encouraged the youth leaders of Columbia University to get a better understanding of China through this visit, thus make positive contribution to China-US friendship and cooperation in the future.            

On January 2, 2019, Mme. Lin Yi, Vice President of the CPAFFC, met with H.E. Mamadou Ndiaye, Ambassador of Senegal to China, in Beijing. Vice President Lin welcomed Ambassador Ndiaye and thanked him for his visit at the beginning of the  new year 2019. She said that Senegal is an important partner of China in Africa. Over the past year, the political mutual trust between the two countries has been continuously enhanced and the mutually beneficial cooperation has yielded fruitful results. The CPAFFC is willing to keep contact and further coordinate with the Embassy of Senegal to promote people-to-people andthe cultural as well asand  local exchanges between China and Senegal and organize more activities to strengthen people-to-people tiesconnectivity. Ambassador Ndiaye spoke highly of the CPAFFC’s work with Senegal. He said that the implementation of people-to-people and cultural exchanges is one of the "Eeight Iinitiatives" proposed by President Xi Jinping at the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation. The Embassy of Senegal in China will continue to work closely with CPAFFC to deepen the mutual understanding and friendship of the two peoples.           Photographed by Fang Ying

Mr. Hu Sishe, Vice President of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC), attended the 8th plenary meeting of council of Shaan Xi Provincial People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (SXPPAFFC) and delivered a speech in Xi’an, capital of Shaan Xi Province on December 21st. Over 160 personages including Mr. Wei Zengjun, Vice Governor of the People’s Government of Shaan Xi Province, and newly elected members of the 8th meeting of council of SXPPAFFC, attended the meeting.      Vice President Hu Sishe read the directive from CPAFFC President Li Xiaolin had made about the new council meeting of SXPPAFFC and congratulatory letter from CPAFFC. On behalf of CPAFFC, Vice President Hu Sishe congratulated members of the 8th plenary meeting of council of SXPPAFFC on being elected. He pointed out in his speech that people-to-people diplomacy is to enhance people’s understanding, trust and friendship and to eliminate the trust deficit among the people, so as to serve the need of China’s overall diplomatic work by the way of carrying out all-directional, multi-level people-to-people friendship work. He stressed that the people-to-people diplomacy for a new era should strengthen political construction, uphold the centralized, unified leadership of the Central Committee and resolutely safeguard its authority and fully make use of China’s political and institution advantages to demonstrate more powerful vitality and creativity. Meanwhile, the people-to-people diplomacy should make efforts from the three aspects including strengthening ideological and political leadership, implementing foreign principals and policies, and serving the local social economic development. Vice President Hu Sishe also encouraged the comrades present to take this change as an opportunity to implement the spirit of the Central Conference on Work Relating to Foreign Affairs and to bring into play its advantages to make more contributions to serving China’s diplomacy. Vice Governor Wei Zengjun was elected as the President of the 8th plenary meeting of council of SXPPAFFC, Mme. Yao Hongjuan, Director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Shaanxi Province Committee, was elected as Executive Vice President, Mr. Cao Hui was executive vice president, and Mr. Gu Xuanhong was Secretary General.          

Mr. Song Jingwu, Vice President of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC), met in Beijing with Mme. WATANABE MITSUKO, the relatives of Former Japanese Prime Minister OHIRA MASAYOSHI and the Vice President of Japan-China Film Festival Executive Committee on December 18th. Mme. WATANABE MITSUKO visiting China this time was to attend the celebration of the 40th anniversary of China’s reform and opening up. Vice President Song Jingwu extended welcome to WATANABE  MITSUKO and conveyed the cordial greetings from President Li Xiaolin to her. Vice President Song expressed warm congratulations on Mr. OHIRA MASAYOSHI being awarded China reform friendship medal. Vice President Song said, the celebration of the 40th anniversary of China’s reform and opening up was held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing this morning. Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered an important speech and awarded  China reform friendship medals to 10 international friends, which aimed to appreciate international society for supporting and assisting the cause of China’s reform and opening up. Mr. OHIRA MASAYOSHI is a Japanese politician with whom Chinese People are familiar. We would never forget the important contributions he had made to promoting the normalization of the diplomatic relations between China and Japan, and giving support and assistance in the cause of China’s reform and opening up. The film exchange is an important field for the cultural and people-to-people exchanges of the two countries. We spoke highly of the active efforts Mme. WATANABE MITSUKO had made for a long time to develop the exchange of the film of the two countries and also hoped that Mme. WATANABE MITSUKO could continue inheriting the spirit of Sino-Japanese friendship and making more contributions to the cultural exchange of two countries. WATANABE MITSUKO thanked Vice President Song for taking time to meet her and asked Vice President Song to convey her sincere greetings to President Li Xiaolin. WATANABE MITSUKO said that it is encouraging she was invited to attend the celebration of the 40th anniversary of China’s reform and opening up and received China’s Reform and Opening-up Friendship Prize awarded by the Chinese government for her grandfather. I listened carefully to the speech made by the Chinese President Xi Jinping this morning. During serving as Japanese foreign minister, my grandfather assisted Japanese Prime Minister, Kakuei Tanaka, in realizing the normalization of Sino-Japanese diplomatic relations. After serving as Japanese Prime Minister, he paid more attention to and actively promoted the relationship with China. I lived with my grandfather since I was a child, and I was unconsciously influenced by what I constantly heard and saw. Over the years, I actively took part in the cultural exchange of the two countries. At present, I serve as the Vice President of Japan-China Film Festival Executive Committee, which aims to enhance mutual understanding and trust by the way of the films and other forms that the nations like to hear and see. I would like to take cultural and people-to-people exchanges as carriers to make efforts to push bilateral relations for improvement.  

Mr. Song Jingwu, Vice President of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC), met in Beijing with Mr. MATSUSHITA MASAYUKI, Vice President of Panasonic, who was invited to attend the celebration of the 40th anniversary of China’s reform and opening up, and his delegation on December 18th. Mme. Zhu Dan, Deputy Director General of Department of Japanese Affairs of CPAFFC, Mr. Zhang Kai, Deputy Director of Panasonic Corporation of China and etc. attended the meeting. Vice President Song congratulated Konosuke Matsushita on being awarded China reform friendship medal. Song said, this year marks the 40th anniversary of the Signing of the China-Japan Treaty of Peace and Friendship. This year also marks the 40th anniversary of China’s reform and opening up. Today, the celebration of the 40th anniversary of China’s reform and opening up was held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. General Secretary Xi Jinping and party and state leaders of China awarded Chinese and foreign reform pioneers medals and China reform friendship medals. Mr. Konosuke Matsushita received this honor as the pioneer of international famous enterprises participating in China’s reform and opening up, which fully demonstrated the highly commendation for the outstanding contributions Konosuke Matsushita and Panasonic had made to the cause of China’s reform and opening up. General Secretary Xi Jinping delivered an important speech at the conference, reviewing the glorious history of the development of China’s reform and opening up in the past four decades, declaring China’s determination to expand opening-up and build a community with a shared future for mankind. This was a huge opportunity for the countries all over the world including Japan. We sincerely expected Panasonic and friends from Japanese economic circles to further deepen the pragmatic cooperation with Chinese side and make more contributions to the friendship for generations of the two peoples and the development of the bilateral relations. MATSUSHITA MASAYUKI thanked Chinese government for conferring on her grandfather China reform friendship medal, which is a great honor for her family and Panasonic. My grandfather dedicated his life to the cause of China’s reform and opening up. It was the first company among large enterprises in the world to make decision to invest in China, which made great achievements and also set a good example for Japanese companies entering China’s market. At present, Panasonic has 75 companies in China and around 60 thousand employees, which has become a vital pillar of Panasonic. I still work in Kansai Economic Federation as Vice President and other positions now and have led delegations to visit China and work with CPAFFC to co-organize the exchange meetings for the entrepreneurs of the two countries for 4 consecutive years. Looking to the future, Panasonic and Japanese economic circles would like to take China’s development as an opportunity to deepen the exchanges and cooperation with China in various fields, so as to realize common development, mutual benefit, and benefit to the people of the two countries.          

China-Azerbaijan Friendship Concert, co-hosted by the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC), Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the People’s Republic of China, Heydar Aliyev Foundation, was held successfully in National Center for the Performing Arts on December 17th, 2018. Over 1,400 people including Mr. Shao Hong, Vice Chairman of National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), Mr. Ali Akhmedov, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Mme. Li Xiaolin, President of CPAFFC and audience from all walks of life in Beijing, attended the concert. CPPCC Vice Chairman Shao Hong, Deputy Prime Minister Ali Akhmedov delivered speeches respectively. Azerbaijan State Chamber Orchestra named after Kara Karayev and several music artists performed classic Azerbaijan orchestra music and classical and ethnic music. Before the performance, CPPCC Vice Chairman Shao Hong met with visiting Azerbaijan Deputy Prime Minister Ali Akhmedov on the invitation of CPAFFC.       Photographed by Wen Guangmei

On Dec.17th, Vice President Xie Yuan met with Presidents from the U.S. Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU). Vice President XieYuan said that educational and cultural exchange is an important part of our bilateral relationship. Last year, over 350 thousand Chinese students were studying in the U.S., making China the largest sender of students to the U.S.. CPAFFC stands ready to cooperate with HBCU to deepen educational and cultural cooperation with the U.S.. President David Wilson of Morgan State University, who is the head of HBCU delegation,briefed on HBCU and said that HBCU, with its long history and  numerous superior disciplines, hopes to enroll more Chinese students and cooperate with China’s higher learning institutions in terms of students exchange and mutual credit recognition.