Ｃｈｉｎｅｓｅ Ｌｏｃａｌ Ｇｏｖｅｒｎｍｅｎｔ Ｄｅｌｅｇａｔｉｏｎ Ａｔｔｅｎｄｓ ２００５ Ｎａｔｉｏｎａｌ Ｇｅｎｅｒａｌ Ａｓｓｅｍｂｌｙ Ｏｆ Ａｕｓｔｒａｌｉａｎ Ｌｏｃａｌ Ｇｏｖｅｒ

Invited by the Australian Local Government Association (ALGA)， a 11-member delegation of the Chinese local government， sent by the CPAFFC， attended the 2005 National General Assembly of Australian Local Government from November 6 to 9 in Canberra.

The National General Assembly

The ALGA convenes a national general assembly annually to discuss issues concerning the local government. The theme of this General Assembly was Good to Great: Pursuing Progress Through Partnership， that is， asking the federal government to give the local government more financial support， equitable treatment and formal recognition. Local government representatives and well-known experts and scholars of Australia， and representatives from China， Britain， New Zealand， Japan， the Republic of Korea， Bangladesh and Nepal participated in the assembly. The General Assembly received great attention from the Australian Federal Government. Deputy Prime Minister Mark Vaile attended the opening session and delivered a speech in which he fully affirmed the important role played by the Australian local government. He said that the General Assembly has enhanced links and communication between the federal and local governments and pledged to further strengthen cooperation between the federal and local governments in the future.

Round Table Meeting

The CPAFFC has kept good cooperative relations with the ALGA over the years. The Australian side specially arranged a roundtable meeting between the Chinese delegation and senior Australian officials before the general assembly. Participants from the Australian side included mayors and councilors of major cities， and heads of investment departments of the federal and local governments. The two sides had lively discussions and exchanges on hot topics such as education， tourism， exploitation of mineral resources and twinning of friendship-city ties. Chris Schacht， former federal senator and the moderator of the meeting， said， Australia， a country with vast territory and a small population， is rich in natural resources， but lacks labour force， while China has rich human resources and a vast market. The two economies are complementary. The two countries should continue to develop friendly relations and strengthen cooperation in labour force， resource exploitation， etc. to promote common development. In tourism， an Australian representative said， the number of outbound Chinese tourists has increased rapidly in recent years and the market has great potential for development. Australia has rich tourist resources. Besides traditional tourist routes， the Australian side would open up new programmes and routes such as surfing tour， nature-themed tour， West Australia tour and South Australia tour that cater to the needs of Chinese tourists to draw Chinese visitors.

Calling on ACT Government

At the invitation of the government of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT)， the delegation visited the departments of environment and tourism and the ACT Legislative Assembly and listened to the briefings on Australian legislation， tourist resources and environmental protection. The two sides had lively discussions on waste water treatment， automobile exhaustion control， attraction of tourists and other matters of common concern， and exchanged ideas on the formulation and execution of environmental protection law and the protection and development of tourist resources.

Members of the delegation said， through the visit， they not only learned the operation mechanism of the Australian Local Government Association， but also gained further understanding of the Australian politics， economy and society， which opened wider their minds and vision. In the meantime， they established links and carried out initial contact with the Australian local governments and leading municipal government officials， paving the way for future cooperation.