建国初期，官方外交活动领域相对狭小，民间外交发挥了独特的历史性作用。对外文协以文化交流为重点，开展同各国人民的友好往来。
In the early days of the People’s Republic of China,people-to-people diplomacy played a unique and historic role, due to the relatively limited room for government diplomacy. The CPACRFC endeavored to develop friendly relations with peoples of other countries with the focus on cultural exchanges.