ＣＰＡＦＦＣ Ｄｅｌｅｇａｔｉｏｎ ｉｎ Ｓｙｒｉａ

A 13-member CPAFFC delegation headed by its vice president Li Xiaolin paid a friendly visit to Syria from May 4 to 7 at the invitation of the Syria-China Friendship Association. Soulaiman Qaddah， regional assistant secretary of Al Baath Party of Syria and president of the Syria-China Friendship Association， Hilal Al-Atrash， minister of local administration and environment， and others met with the delegation.

President Soulaiman Qaddah said when meeting the delegation， the relations between Syria and China date back to ancient times. Since the two countries established diplomatic relations 49 years ago， under the care of the leaders of the two countries， bilateral relations have seen sustained and sound development and stood the test of time and changes in international situation. He stressed， our two countries have always cooperated and supported each other in international affairs. Syria has always adhered to the one-China policy and supported China’s great cause of peaceful reunification. It has never had any forms of official contact with Taiwan. On the Middle East issue， he thanked China for its just stand on a series of issues such as Golan Heights， Palestine and Iraq， thanked the Chinese Government and people for their selfless support for Syria over the years， and the CPAFFC and the China-Arab Friendship Association for their contributions to the strengthening of mutual understanding and friendship between the people of China and Arab countries including Syria.

On China’s reform and opening up， President Qaddah called the economic development in China a world miracle， which has provided successful experience and set an example for the developing countries. He said， Syria would like to learn from China its successful experience in areas such as economy， management， attracting foreign funds， etc.， and hopes that China will continue to grow and become strong so as to make greater contributions to safeguarding world peace and provide more assistance to the developing countries.

Li Yingsheng， a member of the delegation， is vice president of the Chongqing Municipal People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries. When the Governor of Damascus visited Chongqing last year， he expressed the desire to twin friendship-city/province ties with Chongqing and invited the mayor of Chongqing to visit Syria this year to sign the agreement on the establishment of friendship-city/province relations. The Asia-Pacific Mayors Summit will be held in Chongqing in the coming October. To get more cities of the Asia-Pacific region to participate in the meeting is the prerequisite for success. The Minister of Local Administration and Environment recommended the Governor of Halab to lead a delegation to the Summit. The Secretary of Damascus Committee of Al Baath Party said that he would send a delegation to the meeting and would seriously consider the concrete steps to establish friendship-city/province relations with Chongqing.