Ｍｉｌａｎ’ｓ Ｍａｙｏｒ Ｖｉｓｉｔｓ Ｂｅｉｊｉｎｇ

At the invitation of the CPAFFC， Gabriele Albertini， member of the European Parliament and mayor of Milan， paid a goodwill visit to Beijing on November 25， 2005. Before he came to Beijing， he visited Shanghai and attended celebration of the 25th anniversary of the establishment of friendship-city relations between Milan and Shanghai. He met with Han Zheng， mayor of Shanghai. They expressed satisfaction over their cooperation up to now and exchanged views on further promotion of the friendly and cooperative relations between the two cities. He was also present at the forum entitled “Milan: Italy’s Economic Engine” and the symposium on China’s and Italy’s investment and legal affairs， and made a speech at a public lecture on “challenges facing modern city administrators” held by China Executive Leadership Academy Pudong.

Li Zhaoxing Meeting with Albertini

Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing met with Mayor Albertini and joyfully recalled his visit to Milan. He expressed his admiration for the important role of Milan in the economic and cultural development of Italy， his congratulation on the 25th anniversary of establishment of friendship-city relations between Milan and Shanghai and his gratitude to Mayor Albertini for the efforts he had made over the years to promote friendship between China and Italy. He also congratulated the mayor on receiving the Medal of Friendship Ambassador from the CPAFFC. Foreign Minister Li also explained China’s foreign policy of peace and its pursuit of peaceful development to the participants of the meeting.

Mayor Albertini thanked the minister for finding time amid his busy schedule to meet with him. He said， with a splendid cultural history， Milan is the economic heart of Italy and a friend of China. In the city， the Milanese get along well with the Chinese overseas， and many activities publicizing China have been held. Milan contributes a considerable percentage in Italy’s investment in and financial cooperation with China. 25 years ago Milan became the sister city of Shanghai and has since then played an important role in promoting mutual understanding and cooperation between Italy and China. The two cities will try to make more achievements in their cooperation in the following 25 years.

Receiving the Medal of Friendship Ambassador

CPAFFC President Chen Haosu entertained Mayor Albertini and his party and spoke about the aims of the CPAFFC and its tireless efforts to achieve them in the past 50-odd years. He said that China and Italy have kept friendly relations and the friendly cooperation between the local governments have consolidated the basis of state-to-state ties. President Chen thanked Mayor Albertini for his longtime contributions to developing Sino-Italian friendship and on behalf of the CPAFFC， he presented to Albertini the Medal of Friendship Ambassador， hoping that the mayor will make greater achievements in the cause of promoting Sino-Italian friendship. Albertini said， Milan plays a significant role in the political， economic and cultural life of Italy and has always attached importance to its friendly cooperation with China. He expressed that he felt honoured to receive the medal and as the mayor of Milan and a member of the European Parliament， he would continue to make efforts to foster friendly relations between Italy and China as well as between Europe and China.

Italian Ambassador to China B. R. Menegatti was present at the above mentioned two meetings.