Ｓａｎ Ｍａｒｉｎｏ－Ｃｈｉｎａ Ｆｒｉｅｎｄｓｈｉｐ Ａｓｓｏｃｉａｔｉｏｎ ２０ Ｙｅａｒｓ Ｏｌｄ

San Marino， with a population of less than 30，000， is one of the smallest countries in Europe. In such a small country the San Marino-China Friendship Association (SMCFA) was set up andhas exerted important influence in the country’s external affairs and done a great deal of work for people-to-people friendship between San Marino and China.

Gian Franco Terenzi， founder and president of the Association has been captain regent of San Marino (head of state) three times. He visited China for the first time in 1988 in his capacity as captain regent， during which he met with Chinese President Li Xiannian， Premier Li Peng and Jiang Zemin who was then mayor of Shanghai. In the same year， with his great efforts， the SMCFA came into being and he has been its president ever since.

Over the years Mr. Terenzi has taken care of the varied activities held by the Association and often organized lectures， exhibitions and symposiums in San Marino to publicize the ancient civilization of China and its modernization progress. The SMCFA encourages people of all walks of life in San Marino to visit China and receives Chinese delegations every year.

The SMCFA established stable and long-term friendly and cooperative relations with the CPAFFC soon after its founding. The past 20 years have witnessed frequent high- level exchanges of visits between the two organizations， rich contents of their exchanges and many achievements of their cooperation. With assistance from the two Associations， Huangshan City of China and Serravalle of San Marino have twinned friendship-city ties. Encouraged by the SMCFA， the San Marino Government and business delegations made several visits to China and at its invitation， Chinese local and specialized delegations often participated in various events sponsored by San Marino. In 2004， with enthusiasm San Marino issued commemorative stamps on the 55th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China and the 50th anniversary of the CPAFFC. And in the same year Mr. Terenzi led a SMCFA delegation to China to take part in the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the CPAFFC and was received by Chinese state leaders.

In 2008， the CPAFFC conferred the title of Friendship Ambassador on SMCFA President Terenzi in recognition of the active role the SMCFA had played and great contribution it had made over the years to the official and unofficial friendly exchanges between the two countries.

The 20th anniversary of the SMCFA fell in 2008. Invited by President Terenzi， a CPAFFC delegation led by President Chen Haosu paid a friendly visit to San Marino in September. The SMCFA organized a big anniversary celebration in the Grand Hotel San Marino， attended by about 100 people of various circles including high-ranking government officials and entrepreneurs. President Terenzi specially invited President Chen Haosu to present Certificates of Honour to the Sanmarinese public figures of various circles who had worked hard over the years to promote friendly exchanges between the two countries. San Marino Postal Authority specially issued postcards and first-day postmark for the 20th anniversary of the SMCFA. The San Marino state television interviewed President Chen Haosu on China-San Marino relations.