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A meeting on sports cooperation of the China-Spain Forum (CSF), co-sponsored by the CPAFFC and the Sports Committee of the CSF, was held in Beijing on August 2. Distinguished guests from sports circles of China and Spain gathered at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse to discuss future sports cooperation between the two countries. The meeting which was held just days before the opening of the historic Beijing Olympic Games had received great attention from leaders of the CSF and the sports circles of both countries. Hu Qili, chairman of the CSF Chinese Committee; Liu Peng, director of the General Administration of Sport, president of the Chinese Olympic Committee and executive president of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG); Chen Haosu, executive chairman of the CSF Chinese Committee and president of the CPAFFC; Li Binghua, Chinese chairman of the Sports Committee of the CSF and executive vice president of the BOCOG; Qiu Xiaoqi, Chinese ambassador to Spain; Juan Antonio Samaranch, chairman of the CSF Spanish Committee and honorary life president of the International Olympic Committee; Juan Llado, chairman of the Spain China Council Foundation; Alejandro Blanco, president of the Spanish Olympic Committee; and Carlos Blasco, Spanish ambassador to China, attended the meeting.

Centring on the Olympic Games, the two sides conducted extensive discussion and exchanged views on Beijings preparation for the Olympic Games, the Spanish Olympic delegation and sports cooperation between China and Spain. The two sides fully affirmed the important role the CSF has played in promoting friendship and cooperation in all fields including sports between China and Spain and reached broad consensus on the positive impact sports cooperation could produce, especially the great potential it has in promoting world peace. They looked forward to having more in-depth and varied cooperation in the future. IOC Honorary President Samaranch has said, the Olympic spirit embodies the great desire of mankind for friendship, peace and cooperation and the Olympic Games should not be affected by race, religion or politics. CPAFFC President Chen Haosu said in his speech at the opening session: Sport is a silent world-wide language. It has played a unique role in promoting peaceful dialogue between different nations, cultures and civilizations and improving the ability of self-adjustment of human society. The Olympic Games, with the characteristic of transcending language barriers and having no national boundary, has become a very important part of the world peace movement. In this spirit, Beijing welcomes friends from all over the world with openness and friendship and passes on the torch of harmonious, green and peoples Olympics. The Spanish guests saw the unremitting efforts made by Beijing in its preparation for the Olympic Games and felt the rapid development Beijing has achieved in the short span of seven years. They were full of confidence in and expectation for a successful Beijing Olympic Games. The two sides expressed their wishes that the athletes would display fine sportsmanship, forge friendship and achieve good results in competition.

Liu Peng, president of the Chinese Olympic Committee, presented to Honorary IOC President Samaranch a Decoration of Supreme Honour of the Chinese Olympic Committee, the first medal ever awarded by the COC, to express heartfelt gratitude to and high respect for him. Samaranch has been concerned for and supports the development of sports in China. He has played a major role in Chinas return to the Olympic family and made great contributions to China-Spain sports cooperation. CSF Chinese Committee Chairman Hu Qili said in his opening speech: “Mr. Samaranch has a heart of gold and a friendship deep as the sea for the Chinese people. His words, his deeds and his moral integrity are the most vivid and best interpretation of the Olympic spirit.” He is forever an old friend of the Chinese people.

Sport, a strong impetus to state-to-state relations, has also played an active and effective role in the development of relations between China and Spain. We are confident that in an atmosphere of peace, harmony and cooperation, the CSF will surely provide a broader platform for continued enhancement of bilateral exchanges and interaction so as to strengthen the friendship between our two peoples.