Reception Celebrating the 65th Anniversary of the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between China and Pakistan and the 60th Anniversary of the Founding of China-Pakistan Friendship Association,jointly sponsored by the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC), China-Pakistan Friendship Association(CPFA) and Pakistan Embassy, was held  on 18th May, 2016. Madame Shen Yueyue, Vice Chairwoman of the Standing Committee of the CPC, Mr. Liu Zhenmin, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Hu Sishe, Vice President of the CPAFFC, Mr. Sha Zukang, President of the CPFA, Rear Admiral Li Ji, Deputy Chief ofthe Office for International Military Cooperation of Ministry of National Defence and Mr. Masood Khalid, Pakistan ambassador as well as other 120 guests attended the reception. Madame Shen Yueyue had a short meeting with Ambassador Khalid before the reception.

On May 18th, Premier Li Keqiang met with Saudi Arabian Prince Alwaleed and his delegation in Beijing. Premier Li welcomed Prince Alwaleed to visit China. Li pointed out that Prince Alwaleed and his company had a variety of investments in China and had established close ties with Chinese companies, thus making a great contribution to the development of bilateral economic and trade relations. China appreciates Saudi Arabian government and its business circle’s support and participation of “One Belt, One Road” initiative, and is willing to deepen bilateral cooperation in various sectors. Li also hoped Prince Alwaleed and CPAFFC can actively work together to carry out charity work and people-to-people friendly contacts to further enhance people’s friendship between China and Saudi Arabia.  Alwaleed stated that Saudi Arabia attaches great importance to China-Saudi Arabia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and hopes to conduct bilateral exchanges and cooperation at different levels to achieve various fruitful results. Saudi Arabian companies including Kingdom Holding Company are willing to support and actively participate in the building of “One Belt, One Road” initiative. Alwaleed thanked CPAFFC for its thoughtful arrangements and expressed his willingness to conduct cooperation with CPAFFC in charity work and people-to-people exchanges to benefit the two peoples.

2016 “Spring of the Pomegranate Flower” --Cultural Exchanges Week between China and Republic of Korea, co-organized by the CPAFFC, Xi’an Municipal People’s Government, and city government of Jinju of the Republic of Korea, is held in Xi’an during May 14th to 17th. It coincides with the 2016 Silk Road International Expo and Twentieth Investment & Trade Forum for Cooperation between East & West China. There are Opening Ceremonty Show, Intangible Cultural Heritage Exhibition, Food Fair, and Adolescence & Youth Friendship Football Competition between the two countries. Vice President Hu Sishe delivers a speech in the Opening Ceremony Vice President Hu Sishe attended the opening ceremony held in the Xi’an Radio & TV Grand Theater in the evening of May 15th. During his speech, he stated that Xi’an is the starting point of Silk Road, which was of unique significance in the development of the Silk Road Economic Belt. On the basis of Xi’an and Jinju, the Week this year also included city of Quanzhou (China), the starting point of Maritime Silk Road as well as the coastal city of Namhae (Republic of Korea), which improved the influence of the event, in the mean time,  promoted the multi-dimentional cooperation between the two countries and friendship of the two peoples.  The Mayors of Xi’an and Jinju sign the Agreement of the Establishment of Friendship Cities between Xi’an and Jinju During the Opening Ceremony, Mr. Shangguan Jiqing, Mayor of Xi’an and Mr. Lee Chang Hee, Mayor of Jinju signed the Agreement on the Establishment of Friendship Cities between Xi’an and Jinju. Artists from the four cities jointly presented performances with perspective traditions and local features, meanwhile modern and fashion.  Dance co-performed by dancers from Chana and the Republic of Korea This is the ninth session of the event, which is featured with folk art and cultural exchanges. It is held once every year and rotated in Xi’an and Jinju. It has developed from a simple program production cooperation between two TV stations in Xi’an and Jinju into a comprehensive exchanges, including culture, sports and tourism , which leads to all-round cooperation between the two cities, in field of culture, education, trade and commerce, and tourism.  Traditional Dance from Jinju Acrobatic performance from Xi’an National instruments ensemble from Namhae Marionette performance from Quanzhou Male Group JJCC from the Republic of Korea End of the Opening Ceremony in the theme song When the Pomegranate Bloom 

On May 16th, deputy director general Hao Zhongwei met with 18 students from Harvard Kennedy School. Deputy director general Hao extended warm welcome to the delegation. He introduced the important role CPAFFC has played and the fruitful results it has achieved in people-people exchanges. He expected the delegation to learn more about China's development and understand its history and culture, as well as to find potential opportunities for the future cooperation between China and the U.S..  Student representative Joshua Welle thanked CPAFFC for all the great support to their China trip. He said it is not enough to know a country by reading books or magazines. Instead, one could know better about a country by visiting in person and by diving into its culture. 

 During a recent visit of the Omani Entrepreneurs’ Delegation to China organized by the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI), the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC) held the China Oman Business Dialogue in Shanghai and Guangzhou respectively, building a platform for enterprises from both countries to further bilateral economic and trade cooperation. On the morning of May 16th, co-sponsored by the CPAFFC, Shanghai People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) Shanghai Sub-Council, China Chamber of International Commerce Shanghai Chamber of Commerce, Shanghai Federation of Industry & Commerce and OCCI, China Oman Business Dialogue was held at Intercontinental Shanghai Ruijin Hotel. Nearly 130 entrepreneurs from China and Oman attended the meeting. On the afternoon of May 18th, co-organized by the CPAFFC, Guangdong People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, Guangdong Council for the Development Promotion of Small and Medium Enterprises, Guangdong Federation of Industry & Commerce, CCPIT Guangdong and OCCI, the Guangdong-Oman Economic and Investment Meeting was held at Guangzhou White Swan Hotel. Around 180 entrepreneurs from Guangdong Province and Oman participated in the meeting. B2B talks were arranged at the activities between entrepreneurs from varied fields such as trade, health care, education, food, finance, real estate, port services, transportation, oil, and gas etc.

At the invitation of the CPAFFC, Mr. Kemal Baytas, Chairman of the Turkey-China Friendship Association, led a 10-member delegation to visit Beijing, Heilongjiang Province, Suzhou City of Jiangsu Province and Shanghai from May 7 to 15, 2016. During their stay in China, CPAFFC Vice President Lin Yi, Vice Governor of Heilongjiang Province Hu Yafeng, and Vice President of Shanghai People’s Friendship Association Jing Ying met with or hosted banquet for the delegation. Besides, Mayor of Dongcheng District of Beijing Li Xiaozhong met and signed an MOU on exchanges with Mayor of Cankaya of Ankara Alper Tasdelen.

A 5-member delegation of Armenia-China Friendship organizations, headed by Vice Minister of the Ministry of culture of Armenia, Mr.Ter-vardanyan, paid a visit to Beijing and Xian from May 8 to 14 at the invitation of CPAFFC.   During their visit, the delegation met and dined with Mr. Song Jingwu, Vice President of CPAFFC.  They also participated in the grand opening ceremony of 2016 Silk Road International Expo and the 20th Investment & Trade Forum for Cooperation between East & West China in Xian. The visit opened a new chapter in deepening non-governmental exchange and humanistic cooperation between China and Armenia.

On May 13th, Mr. Song Jingwu, Vice President of CPAFFC, met with Mr. Parviz Davlatzoda, the new Ambassador of Tajikistan to China.  Mr. Song extended gratitude to Mr. Davlatzoda for The support of the Embassy to CPAFFC over the years and indicated that the CPAFFC will work with the Tajikistan side to further promote bilateral exchanges and cooperation between people-to-people friendship organizations and local governments. Mr. Song hoped that Mr. Davlatzoda can support the cause of people-to-people friendship between China and the Tajikistan in the future.  Mr. Davlatzoda spoke highly of CPAFFC’s contribution in bilateral relations as well as CPAFFC’s unique role in promoting friendship-city relations and local government cooperation. The Embassy will keep close contact with CPAFFC to carry on and develop the traditional friendship between the two countries during his term.  Mrs. Hu Chunmei, Associated Counsel of the Department of European and Asian Affairs, Secretary General of China Central Asia Friendship Association attended the meeting.

At the invitation of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC), Mr. Vicenzo Scotti, former Italian Foreign Minister and President of Italy Link Campus University visited China and attended the Belt and Road Ecological Agriculture and Food Security Forum held in Xi’an Province on May 12th, 2016. Mr. Song Jingwu, Vice President of CPAFFC met with the delegation. Vice President Song extended warm welcome to President Vicenzo Scotti’ visit and made a brief introduction on the function of CPAFFC. Vice President Song hoped to build more pragmatic cooperation projects for the two countries through the visit of the delegation. President Vicenzo Scotti said that the Belt and Road is a strategic design with great significance. The countries in Europe, especially in Mediterranean should participate in the project. He also expressed that the local governments and the universities play an important role in the countries’ cooperation. The Link Campus University would like to actively develop pragmatic programs with CPAFFC and enhance the exchanges between the two countries’ local governments and the universities, which creates win-win situation for China-Italy cooperation. Mr. Shen Xin, Deputy Director-General of the Department of European and Asian Affairs of CPAFFC, attended the meeting.

At the invitation of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC), Mr. Song Jingwu, Vice President of CPAFFC, met with the Armenian friendly organizations delegation on May 10th, 2016. The delegation led by Mr. Ter-Vardanyan, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Culture of Armenia, attended the 2016 Silk Road International Expositon & the 20th China East-West Cooperation and Investment Trade Fair. The members of the delegation come from the Armenian Foreign Cultural Cooperation Association, Armenia-China Friendly Groups and Armenia-China Bridge Association, etc.. Vice President Song made a brief introduction on the basic function of CPAFFC. Vice Minister Ter-Vardanyan thanked CPAFFC for inviting them to attend the 2016 Silk Road International Expositon and the 20th Investment & Trade Forum for Cooperation between East & West. The both sides also had a discussion on further strengthening the exchanges and cooperation between the friendly organizations of the two countries. Mrs. Hu Chunmei, Vice Counsel of the Department of European and Asian Affairs of CPAFFC, attended the meeting .