Ｓｔａｔｅ Ｃｏｕｎｃｉｌｌｏｒ Ｔａｎｇ Ｊｉａｘｕａｎ Ｍｅｅｔｓ ｗｉｔｈ Ｄｅｌｅｇａｔｉｏｎ ｏｆ Ｋｏｂｅ

The year 2003 marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of friendship city ties between Tianjin and Kobe and China's launching of activities of international friendship cities. The CPAFFC and the Tianjin Municipal Government jointly held on Oct. 19 a meeting to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the establishment of friendship city ties between Tianjin and Kobe and the launching of friendship city activities between China and Japan. A delegation consisting of more than 120 personages of various circles of Kobe led by Mayor Tatsuro Yada and Vice Chairman of the City Assembly Yasunori Taji attended the meeting.

On the morning of October 21， State Councillor Tang Jiaxuan met with the leading members of the delegation. Chen Yongchang， CPAFFC vice president， and Zhi Shenghua， vice mayor of Tianjin， were present at the meeting.

Tang said， thirty one years ago today， during a visit to China Tatsuo Miyazaki， the then mayor of Kobe， said to Premier Zhou Enlai that his city wanted to form sister city ties with a Chinese port city. Premier Zhou instructed Liao Chengzhi， the then president of the China-Japan Friendship Association， to take charge of the matter and reported it to Chairman Mao Zedong， and got his approval. In 1973 Liao Chengzhi led a Chinese goodwill delegation to Japan and formally announced the establishment of friendship city ties between Tianjin and Kobe.

Tang Jiaxuan said， this year marks the 30th anniversary of the twinning of friendship cities between Tianjin and Kobe. Kobe City sent a large delegation to attend the commemorating meeting together with the Tianjin Municipal Government and the people of Tianjin. Premier Wen Jiabao sent a letter of congratulations to the meeting. I， on behalf of the Chinese Government and people， extend my welcome to you and congratulations on the 30th anniversary of the friendship city ties between the two cities. Meanwhile， I also extend my gratitude to the successive mayors of Kobe for their contributions to the promotion of Sino-Japanese friendly relations and the cooperation between and the development of the two cities. Now， Chairman Mao Zedong， Premier Zhou Enlai， Mr. Liao Chengzhi and Mr. Tatsuo Miyazaki have all passed away， but we will never forget their contributions.

Tang pointed out， the Chinese Government attaches great importance to the worthy cause of friendship cities. We learned experience from the twinning of friendship cities with Japan， and following that China established friendship-city ties with other countries， which helped further expand China's relations with foreign countries.

Tang fully affirmed the achievements made by the two cities since the twinning of friendship ties. He said， Tianjin and Kobe are the first pair of friendship cites ever twinned between China and other countries. Now there are 220 pairs of friendship cities between China and Japan. In addition， the twinning has also set an example for many cities in China to establish friendship city ties with their counterparts in foreign countries， and promoted friendship city work in many parts of China. Your two cities have established extensive and deep relations， carried out colourful activities， and supported and helped each other. All this was fully seen following Tangshan and Kobe earthquakes.

As to Sino-Japanese relations， Tang said， this year marks the 25 anniversary of the signing of the Sino-Japanese Peace and Friendship Treaty. Some time ago many significant celebration activities were held in Beijing and Tokyo. Sino-Japanese relations have now entered a very important period of carrying forward the cause and forging ahead into the future. Japan is China's close neighbour， and China's policy towards Japan has remained unchanged. We shall， as always， maintain and develop good-neighbourly friendly relations with Japan， and on the basis of the three political documents signed between China and Japan and in the spirit of drawing lessons from history and looking ahead to the future further develop Sino-Japanese relations.