Vice President Wang Yunze Leads CPAFFC Delegation to Kenya, Zimbabwe and South Africa

At the invitation of the Ministry of Local Government of Kenya， the Ministry of Local Government， Public Works and Urban Development of Zimbabwe and the United Cities and Local Government Africa (UCLGA)， Vice President Wang Yunze led the CPAFFC delegation to Kenya， Zimbabwe and South Africa for goodwill visits from May 23 to June 5.

Warm Reception

In Kenya， Minister of Local Government of Kenya Mr. Kombo and former mayor of Nairobi Joe Aketch， on behalf of Mayor Dich Wathika who was attending a conference in South Africa， together with over 20 members of the City Council and leading members of major departments of the city government held talks with the delegation.

In Zimbabwe， Minister Chombo and Vice Minister Sakabuya of Local Government， Public Works and Urban Development met the delegation at the airport. Mr. Sakabuya accompanied the delegation during its visit in the country. The delegation had talks respectively with Minister Chombo， Mayor Markwavarara of Harare city， Governor Kakond of the Mashonaland East， Provincial Administrator Delamini of the Matabeleland North， officials of the departments under their leadership and councillors.

In South Africa， the delegation met with President Smaganliso Mukashwa of the UCLGA and Mayor Gwen Ramokgopa of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality. The UCLGA and the South Africa Local Government Association (SALGA) jointly organized a meeting and invited relevant staff from the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Arts and Culture to brief the delegation on the present situation and the future goals of prevention and treatment of AIDS， development of national culture and protection of arts. The delegation called on the Ministry of Trade and Industry. President of the SALGA and Mayor of Johannesburg invited the delegation to a luncheon gathering during the SALGA annual meeting. At the gathering， head of the delegation Wang Yunze briefed on the tasks of the CPAFFC， especially the work of friendship cities between China and South Africa， to over 20 mayors of major cities of the country.

People-to-People Diplomacy Promotes Understanding andCooperation between Local Governments

At the meetings and talks in the three countries， members of the delegation briefed on China’s reform and opening-up， the work of people-to-people diplomacy of the CPAFFC and the exchanges between the local governments of China and Africa， especially the friendship cities. The briefings enhanced the three countries’ local government departments’ understanding about China’s domestic and foreign policies and external contacts made by the Chinese local governments of all levels， laying the basis for future Sino-African local government cooperation.

Kenyan Minister of Local Government Mr. Kombo fully agreed to the term of “people-to-people diplomacy” and believed the nongovernmental diplomacy has played a special role in the history of Sino-Kenyan friendly exchanges. When the Kenyan people were waging the struggle for national independence， China through nongovernmental channels gave moral and material support and trained qualified personnel. Today， as the Sino-Kenyan relations are developing in an all-around way in all fields， the people-to-people diplomacy between the two nations will play a greater role. The Chinese people who are becoming rich can come to Kenya to start business and to have sightseeing; more Kenyans can go to China to learn Chinese language and techniques. Now he is working busily preparing to launch the Kenya-China Cultural Friendship Association and hopes to carry forward the great Sino-Kenyan friendship in the new century through the nongovernmental channel between the two countries.

Adviser to the mayor of Nairobi and former mayor of the city Joe Aketch said the local governments of Kenya and China have a broad domain for cooperation. He had been to China and was impressed by the city of Chengdu. He hoped Nairobi could establish friendship-city relations with Chinese cities like Chengdu.

In Nairobi， the delegation called on the general headquarters of the United Nations Human Settlements (UN-HABITAT) and had a discussion with Ms. Klevby， deputy executive director of the UN-HABITAT. Klevby briefed the delegation on the UN-HABITAT and its main tasks. She said Nanjing of China would host the World Cities Forum in 2008 sponsored by the UN-HABITAT and would like to invite the CPAFFC to become one of the organizers.

In order to help the delegation know more about the administrative pattern of Zimbabwean local government and to find cooperation opportunities with Chinese local governments， Vice Minister Sakabuya of Local Government， Public Works and Urban Development accompanied the delegation to make a study of Mashonaland East. The delegation visited a village council， a village health and sanitation station， etc. in the near suburb of Marondera， capital of the province. Through the visit， the delegation members had gained some knowledge about the city’s road construction， health care， farm and agricultural facilities.

In his meeting with UCLGA President Smaganliso Mukashwa， Wang Yunze said cooperation and exchanges between the local governments are becoming a more and more evident trend in the world with growing influence. Up to now， only 69 pairs of friendship cities have been established between China and the African countries， much less than the number of pairs established between China and countries like Japan， the U.S. and the Republic of Korea. The CPAFFC will work with the ministries of local government of African countries and other institutes to strengthen and promote exchanges and cooperation between local governments of the two sides. Mukashwa hoped the UCLGA could establish cooperative partnership with the CPAFFC to make joint efforts to promote exchanges and cooperation between the Chinese and African local governments.