Ｄｅｌｅｇａｔｉｏｎ ｏｆ Ｃｈｉｎｅｓｅ Ｌｏｃａｌ Ｇｏｖｅｒｎｍｅｎｔ Ｏｆｆｉｃｉａｌｓ Ａｔｔｅｎｄｓ Ａｎｎｕａｌ Ｃｏｎｖｅｎｔｉｏｎ ｏｆ Ｓｉｓｔｅｒ Ｃｉｔｉｅｓ Ｎｅｗ Ｚｅａｌ

At the invitation of Sister Cities New Zealand (SCNZ)， a 13-member delegation of local government officials headed by Zhao Liangjun， secretary general of the Suzhou Municipal People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries， organized and sent by the CPAFFC， attended the annual convention of the SCNZ in Far North， New Zealand from April 6 to 9， and visited Australia.

At this annual convention with the theme of “Sailing into the Future—Learning from the Past”， experience in exchanges between friendship cities was summed up and new thinking on the friendship city work and the role of youth in the work were discussed. More than 130 city government officials， leaders of relevant organizations and entrepreneurs from New Zealand， China， Canada， Australia and Japan attended the meeting. Jim Anderton， New Zealand minister of economic development， on behalf of the governor-general and the government of New Zealand， spoke at the opening ceremony. Jeremy Dwyer， president of the SCNZ， and Yvonne Sharp， mayor of Far North gave welcoming speeches. At the meeting， representatives of various countries spoke their minds freely， exchanged experience and talked about friendship in a frank and warm atmosphere .

This annual meeting laid stress on developing friendship and establishing sustainable friendship city ties. In his speech at the opening ceremony， Minister Anderton said， the aim of the meeting is to promote economic exchanges between friendship cities， and moreover， to enhance mutual understanding and respect among countries， in which the significance of friendship city lies. In her speech， Mayor Sharp said， under the current changing world situation， only by strengthening contacts between cities can exchanges between them be maintained sustainable and vigorous， and cooperation between cities and communities be promoted.

Another feature of this meeting was that importance was attached to the role of youth. At the meeting experts， scholars and officials in charge of the youth work in communities had discussions about how the youth can play a greater role in friendship city work.

In his speech， Zhao Liangjun， head of the Chinese delegation， reviewed the exchanges between Chinese and New Zealand friendship cities， explained the CPAFFC’s role of coordination in the work， and put forward ideas on future work. He said， since China and New Zealand established diplomatic relations in 1972， great achievements have been made in the friendship city ties between the two countries， and 18 pairs of friendship cities twinned. At present， Chinese and New Zealand cities are still very enthusiastic about forming friendship city ties. Xining of Qinghai Province， Honghu of Hubei Province and Yibin of Sichuan Province， where some members of the delegation come from， all wish to take the opportunity of this meeting to form friendship ties with New Zealand cities. Zhao also briefed the participants about the main contents of the Anti-Secession Law approved at the Third Plenary Session of the Tenth National People’s Congress and the goal of building a harmonious society.He said， the Anti-Secession Law embodies the common will and firm determination of all the Chinese people to safeguard national sovereignty and prohibit “Taiwan independence” forces from splitting China. He expressed his appreciation of the SCNZ for its persistence in the one-China principle.

Exchanges with Australian Friendship Organizations

During its stay in Australia， the delegation paid an official call on Paul Bell， vice president of the Australian Local Government Association (ALGA) and president of the Queensland Branch of the ALGA， informing him about the preparation for the summit meeting of mayors of Asian and Pacific cities which will be held in Chongqing in October this year. Bell said that he was very happy that his city and Chongqing would cosponsor the meeting， and that the ALGA would send a delegation to participate in it. The delegation paid an official call on James Flower， former president of the Australia-China Friendship Association (ACFA)， and current president of the New South Wales Branch of the ACFA， and exchanged views with him on the contacts in various fields between the two countries. Wang Xiaoqing， member of the delegation and mayor of Xining， had a discussion with the Mayor of Bauer on forming friendshipties between the two cities.