On June 2rd, Mr. Song Jingwu, Vice President of CPAFFC, met with Mr. Aureliu Ciocoi, the new Ambassador of  Moldova to China.   Mr. Song extended gratitude to Mr.Ciocoi for the support of the Embassy to CPAFFC over the years and indicated that the CPAFFC will work with the Moldova side to further promote bilateral exchanges and cooperation between people-to-people friendship organizations and local governments. Mr. Song hoped that Mr.Ciocoi can support the cause of people-to-people friendship between China and the Moldova in the future.   Mr.Ciocoi 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 friendship between the two countries during his term.   Mrs. Hu Chunmei, Associated Counsel of the Department of European and Asian Affairs,attended the meeting.

Mr. Tang Jiaxuan, President of China-Japan Friendship Association (CJFA), met with Mr. YOKOI YUTAKA, New Japanese Ambassador to China, on June 2. Mr. Song Jingwu, Vice President of Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC), attended the meeting. President Tang extended his welcome to Ambassador YOKOI YUTAKA for taking his new post in China. He expressed that the current bilateral relations developed stably, the exchanges at different levels began to restore, the personnel exchanges increased gradually and the pragmatic cooperation developed in an orderly manner. But, the bilateral ties are still very fragile and are interfered by some sensitive factors from time to time. Since China and Japan are the first and the second largest economy in Asia, peace, friendship and cooperation are the only correct choices for both countries. Whatever difficulties they might confront with, the both sides should focus on the overall situation, overcome the challenges and grasp the general direction of lasting friendship from generation to generation. President Tang emphasized that the both sides should strengthen the political mutual-trust, promote the pragmatic cooperation in various fields, deepen the pragmatic exchanges and cooperation in the fields of the economy, trade, humanity, culture, youth, environment, media and etc. so as to consolidate the foundation for improving and developing the bilateral relations. Next year marks the 45th anniversary of the Establishment of the Diplomatic Relations between China and Japan, the year after next will marks the 40th anniversary of the China-Japan Treaty of Peace and Friendship. He hoped that the both sides should catch the rare opportunities to strive to develop the new situation of the improved bilateral ties after summarizing the experience and lessons. Ambassador YOKOI YUTAKA thanked President Tang Jiaxuan for taking his time to meet him. Ambassador YOKOI YUTAKA said that the Japan-China relations experienced many difficulties in these years, now the bilateral ties are in the important period of improving the relations. Under the new situation, the two countries should work together to build a new type of relationship to meet the new times’ requirements and benefit to the both sides. As the Japanese　Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to China, he felt a great responsibility and also decided to try his best to further deepen the friendship and cooperation between the two countries. Mr. Xiao Qian, Director-General of the Department of Asian Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Dou Zhongyi, Secretary of President Tang Jiaxuan, Mr. Cheng Haibo, Deputy Director-General of the Department of Japanese Affairs of the CPAFFC, Mr. ISHIKAWA KOJI and Mr YAMAMOTO TAKASHI, Ministers of the Embassy of Japan in China, attended the meeting. 

On June 1st, CPAFFC and Embassy of Brunei to China jointly held the reception to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Brunei. H.E.Mr.Zhang Qingli, Vice Chairman and Secretary-General of CPPCC, Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin,Vice President Song Jingwu of CPAFFC, Major General Ciguowei, Deputy Chief of International Military Cooperation Office of the Central Military Commission, Mme. Meng Xiaosi, Vice President of All-China Women’s Federation, H.R.H.Princess Masna and other 400 guests from two countries including Chinese and Bruneian representatives from foreign affairs,national defence, economic and trade, culture and media fields as well as ambassadors and envoys from other foreign countries’ Embassies to China. Zhang Qingli said in the speech that China and Brunei are traditional good neighbors and the friendship between our two peoples enjoys time-honored history. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations 25 years ago, the two sides respect each other and treat each other equally, which set a good example for the harmonious existence and mutually-beneficial and win-win cooperation between big and small countries. China is willing to link the Belt and Road initiative with Brunei’s Vision 2035, deepen the pragmatic cooperation in each field and bring more benefit to the two peoples and promote the further development of the bilateral relations. Princess Masna said in his speech that Brunei and China established the strategic cooperative relationship to bring the benefit and wellbeing to the two countries and peoples. The Bruneian side is willing, on the occasion of the 25 anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties as well as ASEAN-China dialogue relations, to promote the development of bilateral relations and strengthen the pragmatic cooperation in tourism, culture and people-to-people area. Vice President Song Jingwu and Ambassador Mangdelene Teo delivered welcome speeches respectively. Before the reception, Vice Chairman Zhang Qingli met with Princess Masna and her delegation.

On behalf of Chinese Chairwoman of China-Russia Friendship, Peace and Development Committee Think-Tank Council Li Xiaolin, CPAFFC Vice President Lin Yi attended the 2th international conference which was held in Moscow on China and Russia: Taking Bilateral Relations to a High Quality and made a speech entitled leading humanity and culture exchanges, building friendly cooperation base. In her speech, Vice President Lin Yi made an introduction on the China and Russia humanity and culture exchanges programs which were held by CPAFFC and CRFA (China-Russia Friendship Association) in recent years. She spoke highly of the important role of the humanity and culture exchanges played in the development of the bilateral relations. Sponsored by Russia International Affairs Committee, the conference aimed to evaluate the current situation and the future development trend in bilateral relations, analysis the main achievements and unsolved problems of the bilateral cooperation, and give some advice and suggestions to the leaders of the two countries on further developing the strategic partnership. Chinese Chairman of China-Russia Friendship, Peace and Development Committee Dai Bingguo, Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Sergey Lavrov, President of Russia International Affairs Committee Ivanov, attended the conference.

  On May 31st, Mr Song Jingwu, Vice President of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC) met with, the President of Amphictyony of Ancient Greek Cities, the Mayor of Marathon, Greece. Vice President Song and Mayor Psinakis reached consensus on holding ‘China - Ancient Greek Cities Forum’ in this November during the ‘Athens Authentic Marathon’ . On behalf of the Marathon Foundation, Mr. Psinakis presented the ‘Medal of Marathon Ambassador to Vice President Song. Mr. Euthumios Athanasiadis, Press Counsellor of Embassy of Greece, Mr. Shen Xin, Deputy Director General of the Department of European Affairs of CPAFFC, attended the meeting. 

On May 30th, Mme. Gu Xiulian, President of China-ASEAN Association(CAA) met H.R.H.Princess Masna, Ambassador-at-Large of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Brunei. President Gu welcomed Masna for her 10th visit to China and sang a high praise to Princess’s contribution to the development of bilateral relations and people-to-people friendship. President Gu said that China and Brunei are friendly neighbors and the bilateral ties set a good example for countries with different social systems to treat each other equally, conduct mutually-beneficial and win-win cooperation and coexist in harmony. On the occasion of the 25th Anniversary of the China-Brunei diplomatic ties, the Chinese side is willing to deepen the strategic cooperative relationship, strengthen the cooperation in each fields and promote the people-to-people exchanges. Princess Masna thanked President Gu for sparing the time out of her busy schedule for the meeting and expressed that Brunei is willing to take the 25 anniversary of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations as a good opportunity to promote the further development of the relationship as well as the cooperation in the fields of economic and trade, social and cultural affairs. Brunei appreciates the government-dispatched Chinese volunteers to Brunei on Chinese language, medical and business, and look forward to more cooperation regarding civil servant, finance and agriculture. Mr.Liu Xinsheng, Vice President of China-Brunei Association and the first Chinese Ambassador to Brunei, Mr. Min Yongnian, former Chinese Ambassador to Brunei and H.E.Magdelene Teo, Ambassador of Brunei to China were present during the meeting.

On May 30th, Deputy Director General Zhang Ruoning of the European and Asian Department of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC) met with Iain Davie, Programme Leader of Edinburgh Napier University of UK and his delegation, together with First Secretary John Somers and staff from the Scottish Affairs Office of the British Embassy in Beijing. Deputy Director General Zhang extended her welcome to the delegation and her congratulations on their brilliant performance at the “China-UK in Drama”—China-UK Youth Drama Exchange Project. She introduced CPAFFC's work in people-to-people diplomacy, local governments cooperation and charity, and exchanged ideas with the delegation on furthering drama exchange and cooperation between China and the UK. Mr Davie thanked the CPAFFC for the considerate arrangements it provided. He said that he has gained a deeper understanding of the Chinese drama and culture through this exchange, and stands ready to carry out more cooperation with the CPAFFC.

On May 28th, the “China-UK in Drama”—China-UK Youth Drama Exchange Project was held in the auditorium of Beijing Foreign Studies University. Hosted by the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC), Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU), and Edinburgh Napier University of UK (Napier), this Project was put forward after Chinese President Xi’s state visit to the UK when he proposed to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the passing of William Shakespeare and the Chinese playwright Tang Xianzu. Around 1,000 people watched the performance, among which are Vice President of the CPAFFC Song Jingwu, Deputy Party Secretary of BFSU Zhao Yu, Vice President of BFSU Jia Wenjian, Minister Counsellor of the British Embassy in China Tim Losty, Counsellor Nick Low, Professor of Communication University of China Zhang Jun, Artist of Beijing People's Art Theatre Li Bin and Yang Tiezhu, and teachers and students from Napier of UK who visited China for this project together with students from 13 Universities in Beijing. The 6 classical or original drama pieces that reflected the two countries cultures were played by students from China and the UK, which were indeed a feast for the eyes. A Midsommer Nights Dreame brought by teachers and students of BFSU gave the audience a glimpse of the Romanticism in Shakespearean drama; the original drama Promise of Loyalty showed the Chinese young students’ understanding and pursuit of honouring commitments; another original play, Crook and Isabel’s Choice, was based on the life story of David Crook and his wife, Isabel Crook, two of the first group of foreign teachers to work in China, and reviewed the glorious deeds made by the British friends in China to promote English teaching; The Merchant of Venice and Measure for Measure played by students from School of Arts and Creative Industries of Napier presented the original flavor of Shakespearean classics to the audience; and their English version of a famous Chinese drama Thunderstorm reflected the British young people’s understanding and appreciation of the Chinese drama, culture and art. Vice President Song Jingwu of the CPAFFC said in his speech that mutual understanding and friendship between youths serve as the foundation of the culture exchanges and mutual reflection between China and abroad, and hoped the teachers and students made good use of the “China-UK in Drama” —China-UK Youth Drama Exchange Project as the bridge of art for the people-to-people exchange between the youths of the two countries. Vice President Jia Wenjian of BFSU commented in his speech that China-UK in Drama is a platform for youngsters of the two countries to demonstrate their vitality and creativity and to better their cultural literature and artistic taste. He is convinced that the Chinese and British youngsters will deepen their understanding of drama, and the two cultures can develop through constant sharing and exchange. Students from both countries reflected that by communicating and performing with each other on the same stage, they have improved their language and acting skills, and more importantly, gained a deeper understanding of and passion for each other’s culture. This event has been reported by mainstream media including Xinhuanet and People’s Daily Online.

The Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC) held a banquet in Beijing to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Suriname on May 27, 2016. Mr. Chen Yuan, Vice Chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), Mr. Wang Chao, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Xie Yuan, Vice President of the CPAFFC, Mr. Lloyd Pinas, Ambassador of the Embassy of Suriname in China etc.attended the banquet. Vice President Xie Yuan said in his speech that, since the establishment of the diplomatic relations, the development of the bilateral relations have been made achievements under the joint efforts. Suriname is one of the South American countries where many overseas Chinese live. The Chinese culture has become an important part of Suriname multi-culture and the friendship have been deeply rooted in the heart of the two countries’ people. Ambassador Lloyd Pinas quoted the statement by President Desire Bouterse and spoke highly of the bilateral relations. Ambassador Lloyd Pinas thanked the Chinese government for its help in Suriname development. He also said that the  launch of the China –CELAC (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States) Forum would further promote the exchanges and cooperation in various fields for the both sides.

On May 25th, Director General Zhang Heqiang of American and Oceanian Affairs Department attended the welcome reception for President of Drake university Earl F. Martin and Drake Chinese alumni hosted by U.S. Ambassador Max Baucus and his wife Melodee Hanes who is Drake Law alumnae, at the Ambassador’s residence. Director General Zhang expressed appreciation to Ambassador Baucus for his support to the CPAFFC’s engagement in enhancing China-U.S.sub-national cooperation and people-to-people exchanges.  Ambassador Baucus highly values the important role CPAFFC has played in promoting China- U.S.friendship. He asked DG Zhang to convey his sincere greetings to Madam Li Xiaolin.   The CPAFFC sent one staff member to study at Drake University from January to March this year.