Ninth Chinese Mayors Delegation Visits Japan

At the invitation of the Japan Association of City Mayors (JACM), the 9th chinese mayors delegation consisting of 10 members with Lu Shouxiang, mayor of Zunyi of Guizhou Province, at the head visited Tokyo, Yokohama, Fukuoka, Kobe and Osaka from November 18 to 27, 2003.

The JACM is a national organization composed of mayors of more than 600 cities. Since the China-Japan Friendship Association (CJFA) established relations of friendly exchanges with it in 1979, the two sides have had close contact. Up to now, the JACM has organized 9 delegations to visit China and invited 8 Chinese mayors delegations to visit Japan.

The aims of the delegation's visit were to make friends extensively, consolidate and develop the already established channels of exchanges and further expand exchanges and cooperation with Japanese local governments. Lu Shouxiang, leader of the delegation, said at the welcoming banquet given by the Japanese host: "In recent years China and Japan have enjoyed sound bilateral relations, having frequent exchanges and close contacts. The continuous growth in economic and trade cooperation and personnel exchanges between local governments in particular have played an active and effective role in boosting the social and economic development of both sides. The friendly exchanges have contributed to the healthy growth of bilateral relations, which not only conforms to the fundamental interests of our two peoples, but is also conducive to peace, stability and development of Asia and the world at large." He hoped that local governments of the two countries would continue to promote mutual understanding and learn from each other's strong points by increasing exchanges and make fresh contributions to the economic development of and lasting friendship between the two countries on the basis they have already built. Lu said at the meetings with the JACM and the Council of Local Authorities for International Relations (CLAIR), with the vigorous support of various circles in both China and Japan, great achievements have been scored in the exchanges between local governments of the two countries. He expressed the hope to strengthen contacts with the CLAIR in the future and together with the Japanese colleagues, contribute their bit to the cause of Sino-Japanese friendship.

The delegation visited a recycling centre in Tokyo, the Osaka Port and Harbour Bureau and other public works, high-tech facilities such as a Fujitsu e-government imitation room and a high-tech park in Yokosuka as well as social welfare facilities including a centre for the aged in Fukuoka. The members of the delegation said, the visit had clear aims and provided them a good learning opportunity, for the places they visited were more or less linked with the problems China are facing at present. For instance, China is moving towards an ageing society. Due to the policy of one child one family practised for years, problems concerning social welfare such as the support for the aged, etc. have become increasingly prominent. The visit to the centre for the aged in Fukuoka enabled them to learn about Japan's present welfare policy for the aged and some new ideas. Besides, Chinese local governments are vigorously developing high-tech industries, pushing ahead with paperless office and reducing waste pollution to the environment. The visits to the relevant places gave them a general picture of japan's policies and research findings in these areas, which would be of great help to them in their future work.

Lu said during the visit that they came to Japan with the aim to learn and hoped that through the visit they could learn Japan's advanced experience, which would provide useful references for China's economic construction.

China and Japan are separated by a strip of water geographically and share the same heritage culturally. In recent years, bilateral cooperation in various fields has been continuously strengthened. Both sides have realized the importance of friendship between our two countries and that Sino-Japanese friendship is in the fundamental interests of both countries. With the continuous growth of the Chinese economy and strengthened economic and trade cooperation with Japan, personages of insight in Japan have realized that China's development will stimulate the Japanese economy. During our visit to the Osaka Port and Harbour Bureau, we learned that the Osaka Port had had contact with China before China and Japan established diplomatic ties. In the early 1980s, it established friendship relations with Shanghai Port. Now one third of the volume of freight it handles comes from trade with China. The Osaka Port and Harbour Bureau hoped to increase contact with China in all fields. We hoped to learn more about the Japanese society while people in Japan also wanted to know about China. During the delegation's visit to various places in Japan after answering questions put to them by the members of the delegation, the Japanese hosts would take the opportunity to ask questions about China to learn about the situation in China since reform and opening up. The visit achieved the aim of enhancing mutual exchanges and mutual understanding.

It was the first time for most of the delegation members to visit Japan. They thought, how to develop economy with local and national characteristics under the ongoing economic globalization is a major task facing the present economic construction. Through the visit they have widened their vision and learned Japanese experience in city management, which would benefit China's local economic development in the coming years.