Ｓｐｅｅｃｈ ｂｙ ＣＰＡＦＦＣ Ｐｒｅｓｉｄｅｎｔ Ｃｈｅｎ Ｈａｏｓｕ ａｔ ｔｈｅ Ｏｐｅｎｉｎｇ Ｃｅｒｅｍｏｎｙ

First of all， on behalf of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC) and the China International Friendship Cities Association (CIFCA)， I would like to pay deep respect to the state leaders attending the Conference， express sincere welcome to the delegates and guests from home and abroad， and cordial greetings and heartfelt thanks to local government officials， and representatives and staff of friendship cities in China and other countries for their unremitting efforts and great contributions to the development of international friendship cities over a long period of time.

The theme of this Conference is “A Harmonious World: Enjoying Friendship， Furthering Cooperation， Building Peace and Seeking Development Together”. We hope to combine the four major purposes of China’s people-to-people diplomacy， namely， friendship， cooperation， peace and development， with the common aspirations of humanity to build a harmonious world. And we hope to discuss with friends from various countries， regions and cities across the world issues concerning international friendship cities， exchange successful experiences， solve difficulties in development， and strive to achieve the grand objective of sustainable development of international friendship cities.

As far as I know， the history of international friendship cities (also known as sister cities) began in Europe after the First World War. It is a form of cooperation arising from the aspirations of the peoples to oppose war， safeguard peace， and enhance people-to-people exchanges between countries. It is generally believed that the first pair of international friendship cities was established between Kerry of Britain and Poit of France. After the Second World War， international friendship-city activities boomed in all Europe and spread to North America and the developing countries. Such activities have promoted the political， economic and cultural exchanges and cooperation between cities of different countries， strengthened the communication， understanding and friendship between different peoples， and become an important factor for world peace and development， making great contributions to the solidarity and progress of humanity.

The activities of China’s international friendship cities began in 1973， when Tianjin and Kobe were twinned as the first pair of international friendship cities between China and Japan. By the end of 2007， 30 provinces， autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government and 327 cities in China have established 1，497 pairs of friendship provinces， states or cities with 348 states (provinces， prefectures， regions， etc.) and 1，068 cities of 120 countries in the five continents.

We are now commemorating the 30th anniversary of China’s implementation of the reform and opening up policy. International friendship-city activities in this country have lasted for 35 years. The first five years covered a period of initiation and exploration; it is during the latter 30 years that steady progress and leap-forward development were really achieved. Therefore， we are proud of our activities for international friendship cities as positive result of the implementation of the reform and opening up policy， which may be summed up in three phrases: It is an important platform for opening up to the outside world， an important carrier of city diplomacy， and an important aspect of people-to-people diplomacy. For more than three decades， following the principles of stressing friendship， mutual benefit and practical results， the relevant cities in China have made comprehensive use of the valuable resources of international friendship cities， strengthened friendly exchanges with their counterparts in other countries， carried out all-round pragmatic cooperation in politics， economy， culture as well as science， technology， education， sports and personnel， and thereby vigorously pushed forward the economic， cultural and social development of our cities and localities in a healthy way. International friendship-city activities have become the main channel for China’s cities and localities in exchanges with other countries， and play an irreplaceable important role in the process of socialist modernization.

Here I would like to focus on the question of city diplomacy.

In the remote past， the birth of cities was an important symbol for the dawn of human civilization. Exchanges between city-states and diplomacy between dukedoms essentially belong to the scope of city diplomacy， and constituted the earliest form of diplomacy. In modern times， cities in terms of local governments no longer occupy the central position of diplomacy and are no longer responsible for dealing with state relations on major issues such as war and peace， but city diplomacy is still a component part of modern diplomacy， making contributions to world peace and development. In all countries and regions， cities are centres of economy， politics， culture， science， technology and education， embodying in a concentrated way the comprehensive strength of a nation and its international competitiveness. In the process of globalization， cities play an increasingly important role in international relations， whose concrete expression is the revival of city diplomacy.

City diplomacy is an important part of the overall diplomacy of a country， with almost no exception in the world. City diplomacy is subject to and serves overall diplomacy; and imbued with local characteristics， it stresses serving urban development， and emphasizes pragmatic cooperation beyond sentimentality. Judging by its basic properties， city diplomacy is a kind of semi-official diplomacy， because compared with pure people-to-people diplomacy， it has the official features of a local government， and compared with pure official diplomacy carried out by the central government， it has the unofficial features of being closer to the people. Since the local governments have a considerable influence on the central government in policy， the intermediary characteristics of city diplomacy should not be ignored. The three major roles of city diplomacy are: to supplement overall diplomacy， to participate in global governance and to promote local development.

Now let’s return to the theme of the Conference. In many countries， international friendship-city activities serve as one of the major carriers of city diplomacy. Take China as an example. Activities of the international friendship cities have received widespread attention from the Central Government and all sectors of society. They have increased rapidly in composing a big family of nearly 350 main bodies and 1，500 twinned counterparts. The widespread activities of international friendship cities in China testify that its city diplomacy has matured， given powerful impetus to the cities’ own development， and， as an important indicator in China’s urbanization， played an active role in promoting the socialist modernization.

The CPAFFC has been in charge of the approval， coordination and management of China’s international friendship-city activities from the very beginning. It initiated the establishment of China International Friendship Cities Association in 1992， and held the China International Friendship Cities Conference in 2000， gradually bringing into shape a comprehensive management mechanism of international friendship cities with Chinese characteristics. In 1999 the CPAFFC joined the International Union of Local Authorities as the representative of Chinese local governments， and in 2004 it joined United Cities and Local Governments as a founding member， exerting a positive impact on the cooperation between local governments and between cities. This process shows that China’s international friendship-city activities have traversed a long way of innovation. To put it in a nutshell， the CPAFFC has not disappointed the trust of the Central Government， and made positive contributions to the promotion of city diplomacy in its management of international friendship-city activities.

On the basis of the past 35-year experiences， we are holding this International Friendship Cities Conference to review the successes already achieved and plan the future development， with the hope of establishing a continuous operation mechanism and building an influential platform for exchanges. We are grateful to Chairman Mao Zedong， Premier Zhou Enlai， Chairman Deng Xiaoping， President Jiang Zemin， President Hu Jintao and other central leaders of successive generations for their strong support to the international friendship-city activities. We are grateful to the cities and localities for their active participation and innovation for the continued progress of these activities. We are also grateful to countries， regions and cities all over the world for their compliance with our desire to make friends and carry out cooperation in twinning about 1，500 pairs of friendship cities with China， which has enabled our work to be fruitful. In recent years， we have given proper guidance to different kinds of international friendship-city activities. We strive to achieve a balanced layout and scientific management， raise the exchange level and gain more practical results. At this conference， we introduce in a variety of ways the achievements of international friendship-city activities in the past 35 years to friends from home and abroad. We perceive a vast developing space in this endeavour， and there is much to be desired for improvement. We expect that under the guidance of our Central Government， with the support of various departments at home and the enthusiastic assistance of international friends， China’s international friendship-city activities will score even greater development in the days to come， and make even greater contributions to enhancing people’s friendship， furthering international cooperation， safeguarding world peace and promoting common development， to pushing the leap-forward development of China’s localities and cities， and to approaching a prosperous and harmonious world for humanity.

I believe that the international friendship-city activities will achieve new progress in the next few decades， and the significance of city diplomacy will be even more remarkable. When we recall our work at that time， we will enjoy the great satisfaction of pushing the progress of history. Let us embrace this future glory with the confidence of optimism， together with friends of all countries， regions and cities in the world!