On 27th October, Vice President Xie Yuan met with Pakistan National Management College (NMC) Delegation. The Delegation was led by Mr. Muhammad Ismail Qureshi, Rector of National School of Public Policy and composed of senior officials from central and local governments of Pakistan. It is NMC’s 41st study group received by our Association since 1974. Vice President Xie Yuan introduced the main tasks of the CPAFFC and its people-to-people exchanges with Pakistan. He indicated that China-India relations have withstood the test of  international vicissitudes as well as the test of domestic changes and have been moving forward constantly. The friendship between the two parts is deep-rooted in the hearts of their peoples. He hoped through this visit the two sides could initiate more collaborative projects and establish a more optimized long-term mechanism .    Rector Muhammad Ismail Qureshi said that he appreciated the efforts made by the CPAFFC in promoting bilateral exchanges and was willing to deepen our friendship by expanding the corporation. He also expressed his gratitude to the CPAFFC for nominating National Management College for the “Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence Friendship Award”. 

On October 27, CPAFFC Vice President Xie Yuan met with a delegation headed by Mr. Chairul Tanjung, Chairman of CT Corporation and former Coordinating Minister of Economic Affairs for Indonesia. Madame Tanjung, H.E. Mr. Soegeng Rahardjo, Ambassador of Indonesia to China, were present at the meeting. Vice President Xie conveyed to Mr. Tanjung the warm regards from CPAFFC President Li Xiaolin and Vice President Lin Yi. He sang a high praise of Mr. Tanjung’s contributions in promoting China-Indonesia relations and extended congratulations on the launching of his biography in Chinese version. Mr. Xie also briefed Mr. Tuanjung of CPAFFC’s work in people-to-people exchanges, local government cooperation, and charity work for public interests.  He said the CPAFFC is ready to push forward the China-Indonesia comprehensive strategic partnership in collaboration with people from all circles of Indonesia. Mr. Tanjung said that Indonesia and China enjoy smooth development of political and economic relations as well as great investment potential.  The two countries are both in a critical period of transformation and shall strengthen coordination and encourage mutual learning from each other. The government of Indonesia highly values the people-to-people exchanges, which is the basis for maintaining friendship bilateral relations. CPAFFC has played a significant role in deepening the friendship between our peoples. CT Corporation will actively probe into more cooperation with CPAFFC in various fields. During the visit, Mr. Tanjung will also visit Peking University and have dialogue with its students.

Vice president Song Jingwu met with Mr. Henk Kool, newly elected president of Dutch China Friendship Association (VNC) on October 26th and held the welcome lunch for the delegation.  Song congratulated Mr. Kool on his presidency, and expected the two associations could further expand the areas of cooperation with the emphasis on the practical cooperation between Dutch and Chinese local governments. Mr. Kool said VNC was planning to co-host Dutch China Friendship Cities Conference with CPAFFC in the Netherlands on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the establishment of VNC in 2017. The conference would serve as a a great chance to further promote the in-depth cultural and financial cooperation between Dutch and Chinese local governments. The two sides also discussed over the preparation of the 5th Sino European Agriculture Seminar, which was co-launched by the two associations and successfully held in China for four times.

An opening ceremony of a large-scale Chinese relics touring exhibition of Chinese Characters:A Legacy and Marvel Perfected Over Three Millennia was held in Tokyo Fuji Art Museum on October 18. Mr. Cheng Yonghua, Ambassador of the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Japan, Mr. Hu Sishe, Vice President of Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC), Mr. Wang Jun, Director-General of Art Exhibitions China (AEC), Mr. HARADA MINORU, Honorary Curator of Tokyo Fuji Art Museum (TFAM), Mr. KUROI SENJI, President of Japan-China Cultural Exchange Ass (JCCEA), Mr. TAKEDA YOSHIAKI, Director of the Mainichi Newspapers, and envoys from 16 countries in Japan, personages from cultural sector, friendly personages from China and Japan, and Chinese characters amateurs, attended the opening ceremony. The exhibition of Chinese Characters:A Legacy and Marvel Perfected Over Three Millennia was commonly and thoughtfully arranged by China Friendship International Art Exchange Association (CFIAEA) and Japan KOUZAN Fine-Arts Company (JKFAC). It took them three years to organize the exhibition. The exhibition held in Tokyo was co-hosted by CPAFFC, AEC, TFAM, JCCEA and Mainichi Newspapers. It will be made a touring exhibition in five places in Japan from October 18th, 2016 to September 14th, 2017, including Tokyo, Kyoto, Niigata, Gunma, Miyagi. The Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Japan, State Administration of Cultural Heritage, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan and other organizations worked as the backup units for the exhibition this time. 110 pieces of exhibits from 17 relics and museum units of 6 provinces and cities in China were displayed this time. Among the 110 items, national-level cultural relics took near 20 percent. The exhibits were not only selected from 11 museums in Shaanxi Province and Henan Province, the original places of Chinese civilization, and from different times and categories which reflect the origin of Chinese characters, such as Oracle Bone script , Bronze, Lettering on Soldier-and-horse Funerary Statues, Inscription Rubbings from Qin and Han Dynasty to Tang Dynasty, but also selected from precious relics, such as Liye Bamboo Slips in Qin Dynasty, The Bamboo Slips and Silk Books of Mawangdui Han Tomb in Changsha, Wang Ziwu Copper Tripod in Spring and Autumn period, SEISHINNSEI Stone Epitaph in Tang Dynasty, Wu Zetian Gold Jane, E Junqi Letter as well as from famous celebrities and masterpieces in the past dynasties in Palace Museum, Liaoning Provincial Museum, An Hui Museum, which are famous for collecting calligraphy and paintings, and four treasures. Ambassador Cheng Yonghua said in his speech at the opening ceremony that, the Chinese characters are one of the oldest script  in the world, which witnesses the origin of Chinese civilization, records the changes of Chinese history and also promotes the cultural exchanges between China and Foreign countries. The Chinese characters inherited and used till now are not only a symbol of language communication, but also a bond of national culture among China, Japan and East Asian culture circle. They also develop into a kind of vision art with deep connotation. They are popular with Chinese and Japanese people. Ambassador Cheng hoped that the exhibition would be another “golden bridge” between China and Japan friendship. The two countries should take this as an opportunity to further strengthening the mutual understanding and friendship, continuously developing friendly exchanges and pragmatic cooperation in various fields and commonly improving the Sino-Japanese relations. CPAFFC Vice President Hu Sishe expressed in his speech that, Chinese characters with sound, shape and meaning in one word bear the development of five thousand years of Chinese culture and have the most rigorous structure in the character system in the world. They are also common cultural foundation for the East Asian countries. The frequency and proportion of use of Chinese characters in Japan is extremely high, and Japan also created many new vocabularies for Chinese characters in contemporary times. The history of the exchanges between the two countries would have been impossible to develop without Chinese characters. He hoped that China and Japan could further explore the rich significance of Chinese characters through the exhibition so as to make the history of the exchanges more colorful.  On behalf of the Japanese organizer of the exhibition, TFAM Honorary Curator HARADA MINORU delivered a speech. He reviewed the exhibitions held by FAM before, such as, the exhibition of Dunhuang, the exhibition of Palace Museum and the exhibition of the Great Three Kingdoms, which stirred up wide concern among Japanese people. This time the exhibition displayed several precious history relics, such as, from Oracle Bone script  and Bronze, the carrier forms representing the origin of Chinese character, to Soldier-and-horse Funerary Statues in Qin Dynasty after the unification of Chinese character. He hoped that the two countries could continue to inherit the spirit of the elder generations, Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai and Mr. Ikeda Daisaku, who had been engaging in promoting the friendship between China and Japan, and to carry forward the cultural exchanges of the two countries through the exhibition.  AEC Director-General Wang Jun stressed in his speech that, the themes of the exhibition are to carry forward the culture of Chinese characters, research the historical progress of the development of Chinese characters and explore the value of Chinese characters in world culture. He said that this exhibition was the first time to systematically display the relics in Japan about Chinese characters. He believed that more Japanese people could learn about historical connotation of Chinese characters, experience the artistic charm and the miraculous wisdom contained in Chinese characters through the exhibition. The exhibition was popular with the Japanese ordinary people. More than 3000 people attended the opening ceremony and visited the exhibition. http://news.xinhuanet.com/shuhua/2016-10/19/c_1119743532.htm http://news.ifeng.com/a/20161018/50119486_0.shtml http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/ce/cejp/chn/gdxw/t1407144.htm http://news.163.com/16/1018/20/C3MG67MJ000146BE.html http://world.people.com.cn/n1/2016/1019/c1002-28790710.html http://www.ccdy.cn/xinwen.../jiaoliu/xinwen/201610/t20161019_1265887.htm http://www.whjlw.com/2016/1019/41230.html http://mini.eastday.com/a/161019095604572.html http://tv.cctv.com/2016/09/26/VIDEu90E4JbybNyaSEmeHLS0160926.shtml http://mainichi.jp/articles/20161019/k00/00m/040/081000c http://j.people.com.cn/n3/2016/1020/c94473-9130433.html

As one of the activities held during 2016 China-Japan Exchange Month, YAMATO the Drummers of Japan performance, organized by Beijing Japan Foundation, which was held in Beijing on October 22th . CPAFFC Vice President Song Jingwu attended the activities and delivered a speech. Vice President Song Jingwu said in his speech that, strengthening and expanding the humanity exchanges between China and Japan will contribute to shortening the distance between the hearts of the two peoples and deepening the mutual trust, which play an important and unique role in consolidating the foundation of the public support of Sino-Japanese relations. He sincerely hoped that, the two countries should take this 2016 China-Japan Exchange Month as an opportunity to further strengthen the friendly exchanges and cooperation in humanity sector and enhance mutual understanding and friendship between Chinese and Japanese people. Let the concept of Sino-Japanese friendship go deeply into the hearts of the people of the two countries, and push forward the long-term healthy development of their bilateral relations. Japanese Ambassador YOKOI YUTAKA expressed appreciation for support and assistance given by CPAFFC for the activities. He said that, the two countries should positively hold exchange activities in various levels, such as from government to people, in order to deepen mutual understandings of the two peoples, which build the Sino-Japanese relations under the new times.

On the noon of October 21st, Ms.Lin Yi, Vice President of the CPAFFC hosted banquet for the delegation of Society for Anglo-China Understanding(SACU）. Ms. Lin Yi welcomed SACU’s visit to China, reflected the friendship between CPAFFC and SACU for 4 decades and introduced CPAFFC’s recent work with the UK. She hopes that the cooperation between CPAFFC and SACU will further contribute to the friendship between the two peoples of China and the UK.    Mr. Christopher Henson, head of the delegation appreciated CPAFFC’s hospitality. He said that SACU has been dedicated to promoting the mutual understanding and friendship between the peoples of China and the UK and will strengthen cooperation with CPAFFC.

Mr. Chen Yuan, Vice-Chairman of National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and President of China-Russia Friendship Association (CRFA) met with Mr. Mezencev, Member of Russia Federation Council (RFC) and Chairman of Russia-China Friendship Association (RCFA) on October 20th. President Chen Yuan welcomed Chairman Mezencev to visit China and expressed that it was a great pleasure for him to meet Chairman Mezencev again in Beijing shortly after they separated last time. Chairman Mezencev thanked President Chen Yuan for taking time to meet him and made an introduction about the current work of RCFA and the working plan in the next stage. Both sides exchanged opinions on further strengthening the local exchanges between China and Russia, promoting the cooperation of the two countries in the fields of tourism, economics, trade, humanity and etc. and a series of activities to be held during the 60th anniversary of the establishment of RCFA in next year. Chairman Mezencev’s visit to China this time was to attend the 8th China Overseas Investment Fair. Mr. Shen Xin, Deputy Director-General of the Department of European and Asian Affairs of CPAFFC, Mr, Zhou Liqun, Vice President of CRFA and Deputy General Manager of China Cheng Tong Group, Mr. Zhou You, Deputy Director of Poly Culture Group Corporation Limited, Mr. Kozhemyako, Governor of Sakhalin Oblast, Russia, Mr. Kovton, the representative of Gazprom and Mr. Shin, Senior Counsellor of Russian Embassy in China, attended the meeting.

On 19th October, Vice President Lin Yi of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC) met with Dr. Orlando Smith, Premier of the British Virgin Island.  President Lin extended welcome to Premier Smith, and briefed him on the CPAFFC’s work in people-to-people diplomacy and local government cooperation. Premier Smith thanked the CPAFFC for inviting him to visit China and for its considerate arrangements. He expressed willingness to establish contact with the CPAFFC to facilitate bilateal exchanges and cooperation. CPAFFC’s Deputy Director General of the European and Asian Department, Ms Zhang Ruoning attended the meeting.

In the morning of October 17th, CPAFFC Vice President Lin Yi came to the Embassy of Kingdom of Thailand in China to express condolence to the passing away of King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand and inscribed on the condolence book. Vice President Lin Yi said to Karntimon Ruksakiati, Charge d’affasire ad interim of the Embassy of Kingdom of Thailand in China that King Bhumibol Adulyadej is a great friend of Chinese people and an excellent leader revered and loved and esteemed by the Thai people. On behalf of CPAFFC, China-ASEAN Association, China-Thailand Friendship Association, I extend to profound condolences over the passing of King Bhumibol Adulyadej. We are willing to work with the Embassy of Kingdom of Thailand in China and the Thai friends to make common efforts to consolidate the China-Thailand traditional friendship and deepen the all-round strategic partnership of the two countries.

China-Latin America and Caribbean 2016 Year of Culture Exchange, China-Argentina Original Comic Art Exchange Exhibition, hosted by the CPAFFC and the Vi?etas Sueltas, undertook by the Beijing Total Vision Cultural Spreads Co. Ltd., was held successfully in Buenos Aires, capital of Argentina from October 14 to 16. Deputy Director-General Ji Wei of the Cultural Exchange Department of the CPAFFC, Directo Marcelo Panozzo of Planification of Argentina Cultural Ministry, Director Oscar Smoje of Palais de Glace, Cultural Counselor Yang Chuanying of Chinese Embassy in Argentina,  Director Thomas Dassance of the Vi?etas Sueltas  attended the opening ceremony in the evening of October 14 and made speeches respectively. More than 100 audience from both home and abroad attended the opening ceremony and watched the exhibition.  In his speech, Deputy Director Ji Wei said, caricature is one of the most important forms for people to tell stories and disseminate culture. In recent years, China’s animation industry has been carrying out vigorous development, so it is a perfect time to hold the China-Argentina Original Comic Art Exchange Exhibition. The CPAFFC will continue to further promote cultural exchanges between China and Argentina through holding exhibitions and organizing exchange of visits of Chinese and Argentinian cartoonists.  The exhibition displayed a collection of 350 comic works from 5 countries, China, Italy, France, Argentina and the U.S., including 240 pieces of contemporary Chinese caricatures, 110 exquisite manuscripts. Among them, there was San Mao Joins The Army, a masterpiece by Mr. Zhang Leping, a famous cartoonist of China. In addition, more than 10 pieces of caricatures by peasant artists from Qiuxian County of Hebei Province, which was known as one of “three hometowns of caricature of China”, were displayed at the exhibition. Xinhua News Agency reported the exhibition. The project has been included in the “China-Latin America and Caribbean 2016 Year of Culture Exchange” and “China- Latin America and Caribbean Dialogue Mechanism of Civilizations” initiated by the Ministry of Culture of China.