Second Forum on China-Latin America and Caribbean People-to-People Friendship

The Second Forum on China-Latin American and Caribbean People-to-People Friendship， jointly sponsored by the CPAFFC and the Latin America and Caribbean Federation of Friendship with China (LACFFC)， was held in the Cuban capital Havana from October 29 to 30， 2009. Over 80 representatives from 26 friendship-with-China organizations in 20 Latin American and Caribbean countries attended it. Cheng Siwei， former Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress and President of the China-Latin America Friendship Association (CLAFA)， led a delegation to the forum and spoke at the opening ceremony.

Ke Xiaogang and Wang Hongqiang， Vice President and Secretary General respectively of the CLAFA， Danillo Santos， President of the LAFFC， and Juan Manuel， President of the Central American Federation of Friendship with China delivered major speeches. Several friendship organizations were invited to speak about their successful experiences in promoting youth， cultural， tourist， educational and trade interchanges. Participants also exchanged views on how to promote people-to-people exchanges between China and countries not yet covered by formal diplomatic relations， and discussed issues including establishing contacts and links to bring about the formation of friendship city arrangements between China and Latin America. Many of the participants were leaders of various friendship organizations representing a variety of working partners of the CPAFFC including friendship associations that have maintained long-time cooperation as well as organizations with whom it has established contacts most recently， and individuals from countries with diplomatic ties with China as well as those without such ties; actually， seven out of 11 such countries in the region sent representatives to the forum. During the meeting， a new leadership was elected. Jaime Moreno， President of the Colombia-China Friendship Association became the new chairman， and Joseph Curry， retired Honorary President of the Bahamas China Friendship Association， became vice chairman. A photo exhibition was held to go along with the event sponsored by the CPAFFC to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.

The mechanism of the Forum on China-Latin America and Caribbean People-to-People Friendship was established in 2005 at the Third Latin America and Caribbean Regional Conference of Friendship Organizations with China held in Argentina. The first forum was held in September 2007， in Chongqing， with the CPAFFC and LACFFC as joint sponsors.