ＣＰＡＦＦＣ Ｄｅｌｅｇａｔｉｏｎ Ｖｉｓｉｔｓ Ｎｉｇｅｒｉａ ａｎｄ Ｇｈａｎａ

A CPAFFC delegation headed by its vice president Wang Yunze paid a goodwill visit to Nigeria and Ghana in September 2004 at the invitation of the Nigeria-China Friendship Association (NCFA) and the National Association of Local Authorities of Ghana，.

The delegation was accorded warm hospitality in the two countries. In Nigeria， the delegation called on Vice President Alhaji Atiku Abubakar， Permanent Foreign Secretary Wadibia-Anyanwu， and Deputy Director Maidugu of the National Council for Arts and Culture. It had a working conference with the NCFA in Lagos.

In Ghana， the delegation called on Kwadwo Adjei-Darko， minister of local government， met with Mr. Kojo and Mr. J. E. K. Moses， president and vice president of the Ghana-China Friendship Association (GCFA)， and members of the Foreign Affairs Committee of Ghana National Parliament， leading members of the District Assembly Common Fund and the International Sports and Culture Association-Ghana， and visited the Institute of Local Government Studies and the Keer District Assembly. It held talks with the National Association of Local Authorities of Ghana.

In his meeting with the delegation， Nigerian Vice President Atiku Abubakar spoke highly of the brilliant achievements China has won since reform and opening up and held that China’s experience in economic development is worth learning by Nigeria. He said， Nigeria is a big country in Africa and China is a big country in Asia. The Nigerian Government attaches great importance to its relations with China. In recent years， great progress has been made in the exchanges and cooperation in the political， economic， cultural and other fields between the two countries. Especially more and more Chinese entrepreneurs have come to invest and build factories in Nigeria， which has helped bring about the economic recovery and development of the country. He pointed out， Nigeria and China are highly complementary economically， and hoped that the Chinese Government and enterprises would continue to take an active part in the economic development of Nigeria， and closely cooperate with his country in the areas of petroleum， natural gas and mining for the benefit of the two countries and the people. He expressed his gratitude to the CPAFFC and NCFA for their efforts to enhance exchanges between the two peoples and believed that the friendship between the people is the solid basis on which bilateral friendly relations can continue to grow. Vice President Wang Yunze thanked the Nigerian Government for the support it has given to China in the international arena over the years and said that the CPAFFC would together with the NCFA carry out activities in various forms to further promote the development of China-Nigeria friendship.

Mrs Wadibia-Anyanwu， permanent secretary of the Nigerian Foreign Ministry， said at the meeting with the delegation， Nigeria and China have always maintained very friendly relations. The two countries always support each other in international affairs. She herself visited China last May and saw for herself China’s tremendous achievements in its economic development. Nigeria has been receiving assistance from China in its economic development and some of the Nigerian Government projects have been completed by Chinese companies. The Nigerian Foreign Ministry pays great attention to the work of people-to-people friendship between Nigeria and China and will continue to give full support to the friendly exchanges in this area to ensure the continuous development of bilateral relations， especially the friendly relations between our two peoples.

In Ghana， personages of various circles coming into contact with the delegation all expressed their friendly sentiments towards China and their gratitude for the selfless assistance China has rendered to the construction of Ghana. A member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of Ghana National Parliament who had visited China said that the great progress China has made in all fields in a relatively short time is remarkable and that China is equal to a developed country. Vice President Wang Yunze said， the friendly relations between China and Ghana go back to ancient times. The people of our two countries cherish profound friendship. As early as 40 years ago Premier Zhou Enlai visited Ghana， and laid the foundation for deepening the friendship between our two peoples. What’s worth mentioning is that the CPAFFC in collaboration with the Beijing Television Station shot a TV documentary series Road of Friendship in commemoration of the 40th anniversary of Premier Zhou Enlai’s visit to 10 African countries in April 2004. The episode about Ghana in the documentary reviews the friendly relations between China and Ghana and vividly represents the friendly sentiments the Chinese and Ghanaian people have for each other.

Having established diplomatic relations with China as early as in 1960， Ghana is one of the first African countries to recognize China. Due to the long distance between the two countries， the lack of funds and other reasons， there have been few exchanges between the CPAFFC and Ghana. During the visit， the delegation had extensive contacts with the people of various circles and established links with them so as to deepen friendship between the people of China and Ghana. The delegation called on the minister of local government， the Foreign Affairs Committee of Ghana National Parliament， the Keer District Assembly， the District Assembly Common Fund and the Institute of Local Government Studies， and held talks with the National Association of Local Authorities of Ghana and the International Sports and Culture Association-Ghana respectively， expressing its willingness to establish links and carry out exchanges with them. During the visit members of the delegation deeply felt that China and Ghana enjoy traditional friendship and that our work to promote friendship with Ghana has bright prospects.