Happy Birthday to the CPAFFC

As Chairman of the EU-China Friendship Group of the European Parliament （EUCFGEP）， I first came in contact with the CPAFFC in 2007 when the newly founded EUCFGEP was invited by the CPAFFC to visit China. The delegation was composed of 6 members and the secretary general of the European Parliament （EP）.

The visit helped EP members gain better knowledge of China’s economic growth and strengthened the cooperation between the parliament and various Chinese ministries and commissions. Indeed， with the help of the CPAFFC， we had a very successful visit.

Since I had a Chinese assistant in the EP in 2005， I began to organize EP members to visit China. At that time， very few parliamentarians knew about China and some even had a biased view about China， I thought it was important to let EP members experience the warm-heartedness of the Chinese people.

We’d undertaken visits before 2007， but the one hosted by the CPAFFC was quite different. The Chinese side proposed， of its own accord， that the itinerary could be arranged according to the delegation’s wishes. It was a special privilege for us. I could see some of my colleagues were very excited， for this could help us know about China more actively and comprehensively. I remember that at that time we made all sorts of requests and some were rather unrealistic. However， almost all of these requests were taken seriously by the CPAFFC with great sincerity that moved us all.

From May 27 to June 2， 2007， we met with relevant leaders of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs， Ministry of Commerce， and the National People’s Congress. During our stay， we visited the Palace Museum， the Great Wall， the Olympic venues in Beijing， and the Shanghai Aircraft Manufacturing Company， General Motors Corp.， and the Environmental Protection Bureau in Shanghai. In this way， we witnessed China’s economic development and gained more positive understanding.

After visiting the Beijing Urban Planning Exhibition， one of my colleagues said with emotion that， compared with China， Belgium was only a small village. Another colleague was bewildered， asking： “How unthinkable it is！ Why there are not many people riding bicycles in the streets of Beijing”. This was because， whenever we saw pictures of Beijing in the European media， the streets usually swarmed with cyclists.

In Shanghai we were amazed to see skyscrapers everywhere. Maglev trains were not widely used in Europe even though it was a German technology. However， to our surprise， this kind of train without wheels traveling at a rate of about 500 kph， ran in Shanghai！

The wife of a delegation member suddenly suffered a stomach spasm， and she was taken to the largest hospital she had ever seen. She told me it was very modern with its medical facilities as good as those in Europe， with very good service. In my view， it was thanks to China’s rapid modernization and the CPAFFC staff’s efforts that she could soon recover and be so positive about Chinese hospitals.

With the CPAFFC’s careful coordination， the delegation had in-depth discussions with the various government departments， and the two sides put forward a series of constructive suggestions on how to improve China-EU relations. We suggested that China and the EU establish a visa-free mechanism for high-ranking diplomats， and hoped the two sides make joint efforts to establish the parliamentary system in the World Trade Organization.

Some colleagues even said to me half jokingly that they hoped in the future the Conference of Presidents of the European Parliament would be held once in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. This visit even made the delegation members change their political views. For example， some left-wing parliamentarians originally advocated that the EU member countries should strengthen macro-economic control， raise taxes， expand social welfare， narrow the gap between rich and poor and solve the unemployment problem. However， after they saw China’s tremendous achievements， they changed their original views and held that the European people should work hard and reduce their dependency on social welfare. They began to accept the center-right’s view of reducing taxes and social welfare and solving the unemployment and other social problems through stimulating investment.

Before the visit， right-wing politicians had misgivings about China’s peaceful development. But afterwards， they were full of hope of the cooperation between China’s National People’s Congress and the EP. It may be said that the visit amid such good atmosphere not only enabled the EP members to know more about China， but also harmonized their political concepts. Thus， the EUCFGEP’s work entered a new stage and enhanced its influence in the EP， playing a positive role in promoting the steady development of EU-China relations.

The 2007 visit started the formal cooperation between the EUCFGEP and the CPAFFC. In 2010， after having expanded its size in the new European Parliament， our group again accepted the CPAFFC’s invitation.

With the aim of promoting more active and extensive exchanges between the EU and China and remedying the weakness of EU-China relations being only at the political level， at the end of 2010， the EU-China Friendship Association （EUCFA） launched by the core members of the EUCFGEP was founded in Brussels. It is an independent nongovernmental organization to promote EU-China relations. In 2011， at the invitation of EUCFA， a CPAFFC delegation paid a visit. In 2013， invited by the CPAFFC， EUCFA made a successful visit to China.

This contributed to the establishment of a cooperative partnership with Liaoning Province， enabling the latter to conduct deep cooperation with EU member governments， organizations， enterprises and schools at various levels and in the fields of economy， trade， culture， tourism， education， etc. We hope that under this cooperation framework we can integrate all resources of the EU， focus our efforts and help China develop in a correct and all-round way while more effectively benefiting both sides. The CPAFFC has done a great deal of work in bringing us into contact with Liaoning Province.

So far， we have been cooperating with the CPAFFC for about eight years. We hope we can conduct closer cooperation under the framework of governmental cooperation， NGO cooperation and cultural cooperation and personnel exchanges modes. We are also willing to work together with the CPAFFC to explore and invent new cooperation modes and continue to help further better EU-China relations so as to bring benefits to the people of both sides.

On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the founding of the CPAFFC， on behalf of all the members of the EUCFGEP and the EUCFA， I sincerely wish her a happy birthday. We also would like to take this opportunity to express our heartfelt thanks to all the staff of the CPAFFC for their years’ support given to our work and unremitting efforts for promoting EU-China relations.