Delegation of United Latvian Friendship Societies in China

At the invitation of the CPAFFC， a 46-member delegation of the United Latvian Friendship Societies (ULFS) with Savicka Inta， chairperson of the Jelgava Region Council as honorary head of the delegation， paid a goodwill visit to China from May 22 to 29， 2006. The delegation visited Beijing， Guilin， Shanghai and Suzhou.

CPAFFC President Chen Haosu met with the delegation and expressed his warm welcome to their China visit， and sincere gratitude to Tomase Inese， president of the ULFS， for his work for developing China-Latvia friendship. Chen said， in May when flowers are in full bloom， the visit to China by such a large-scale delegation personally led by President Tomase Inese shows the fruitful friendly cooperation carried out by our two friendship organizations in recent years. The people of our two countries have strong wishes to enhance understanding and strengthen exchanges. Chen briefed the delegation about the contacts and cooperation carried out by the CPAFFC with friendship organizations and non-governmental organizations in various countries in the world. He happily recalled his visit to Latvia in 1997. He said， Latvia is a beautiful country. Nine years have passed. Latvia has made great achievements in domestic construction and joined the EU. China has established the China-EU Association， and he serves as president of the Association.A new channel for China-Latvia cooperation has been added. Chen hoped that the delegation would visit more places so as to get a better understanding of China’s development. He believed that with the concerted efforts of friendship organizations of both countries China-Latvia friendly cooperation would have brighter and broader prospects of development.

Except President Tomase Inese， all other members of the delegation visited China for the first time. The visit to Chinese cities has left deep impressions on them. They said， in Latvia， people don’t know much about China’s reform and opening up， economic development， history and culture and urban construction as well as the life of ordinary Chinese people. Ordinary Latvian people’s impression of China is still poverty and backwardness of the past. After visiting China， they have completely changed their impressions of China. They were full of praise of the splendid historical and cultural sites and broad and clean streets in Beijing， row upon row of skyscrapers in Shanghai， picturesque scenery of the Lijiang River and hills in Guilin， and exquisite gardens in Suzhou. They were amazed at the fast developing economy and endless array of all kinds of low priced but high quality commodities. They often repeated a Chinese saying “Seeing for oneself is better than hearing from others.” They said， after returning home， they will tell their friends and relatives what they have seen and heard in China，brief their visit in China to the relevant departments and plan to organize specialized study groups to visit China so as to have a better knowledge of China’s economic development and experience， further enhance mutual understanding and trust between the two peoples and promote bilateral economic and trade relations and friendship between the two peoples.