Ｄｅｌｅｇａｔｉｏｎ ｏｆ Ｂａｈａｍａｓ－Ｃｈｉｎａ Ｆｒｉｅｎｄｓｈｉｐ Ａｓｓｏｃｉａｔｉｏｎ Ｖｉｓｉｔｓ Ｃｈｉｎａ

At the invitation of the CPAFFC， the delegation of the Bahamas-China Friendship Association led by its President Joseph Curry visited Beijing， Shanghai and Shenzhen from April 16 to 24. It was the Association’s first delegation to China since its founding last year. Li Xiaolin， vice president of the CPAFFC， Yu Ping， vice president of China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and officials from Ministry of Foreign Affairs enterained or met with the delegation respectively.

The Bahamas-China Friendship Association was founded on September 20， 2004， with the Governor General Dame Ivy Dumont as the honorary president. When meeting with officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs， President Curry recalled the bilateral relations between China and the Bahamas. The two countries have been in good relationship since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1997， with frequent exchanges of visits between the senior officials. The relationship saw further progress after Prime Minister Christie’s official visit to China in August last year which concluded with many agreements on setting up Bahamian Embassy in China， China helping to build the National Stadium in the Bahamas， etc. Mr. Curry hoped that through the work of the BCFA， more Bahamians will get to know about China and the two countries will carry out further exchanges and cooperation in the political， economic， cultural and other fields.

Another important purpose of the delegation’s visit was to do a study of the Chinese market and promote trade cooperation between the two countries. According to the delegation members， the Bahamas is very developed in tourism and financial industry， rich in aquatic resources. Its aquatic products sell all over the world but its agricultural basis is weak. At present， the trade volume between the Bahamas and China is small， but there is a huge potential to grow since the two countries are complementary in industries. The Bahamas has its special edge in attracting foreign investment. Its political environment is stable; the government encourages foreign investment with preferential tax policy; it occupies a favorable geographical position. The country is only half an hour’s flight from Miami， Florida. It has close ties with other Caribbean countries serving as a transit hub in the Caribbean areas. During its meeting with officials from China Council for the Promotion of International Trade， the delegation expressed hopes that more Chinese companies would invest in the Bahamas. After visiting Shenzhen， the delegation also attended Guangdong Trade Fair and had talks with Chinese companies.

In agriculture， the delegation hoped to establish direct contacts with Chinese companies so that the two countries could engage in direct import and export. To that end， the CPAFFC arranged a meeting for them to have direct contact with Shanghai businessmen and a visit to Shanghai aquatic market.

The delegation’s visit strengthened the relations between the two associations. The BCFA invited Cheng Siwei， vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress and Li Xiaolin， vice president of the CPAFFC to visit the Bahamas later this year when they visit other Latin American countries. It also decided to take part in the Third China-Caribbean Friendship Conference sponsored by the CPAFFC in Argentina this November.