Tenth China International Fair for Investment and Trade and FourthCooperation Fo

The 10th China International Fair for Investment and Trade (CIFIT) sponsored by the Ministry of Commerce and organized by the Fujian Provincial People’s Government and the Xiamen Municipal People’s Government was held from September 8 to 11, 2006 in Xiamen. Vice Premier Wu Yi; Luo Haocai, vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC); Edmund Ho Hau Wah, chief executive of the Macao Special Administrative Region; Pascal Lamy, director general of the World Trade Organization; Supachai Panitchpakdi, secretary general of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, as well as CPC and government leaders of Fujian Province attended the opening ceremony. More than 6,000 people including delegations from China’s various provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government and delegations of 49 member organizations of relevant ministries, commissions and associations, and representatives of over 200 foreign organizations from more than 30 countries and regions participated in the CIFIT.

For the first time, the CPAFFC, as a member organization, participated in the CIFIT.President Chen Haosu, on behalf of the CPAFFC and the China International Friendship Cities Association (CIFCA), attended the opening ceremony and was given a “Contribution Prize” by the Organizing Committee of the CIFIT.

The 4th Cooperation Forum for International Friendship Cities of China (CFIFCC) cosponsored by the China International Friendship Cities Association (CIFCA), the Fujian Provincial People’s Government and the Xiamen Municipal People’s Government was held during the Fair. More than 150 people including leading officials of the Beijing Municipal People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and the Zhejiang Provincial People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and representatives from friendship cities of ten-odd countries attended the Forum. Chen Haosu, CPAFFC president, Wang Meixiang, deputy governor of Fujian Province, and Wu Fengzhang, vice chairman of the Xiamen Municipal Committee of the CPPCC and president of the Xiamen Municipal People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, attended and spoke at the Forum. The theme of the forum was “urban environmental protection and circular economy”. Jean-Karl Deschamps, vice president of Region Basse Normandie Parliament of France; Dato’ Dr. Teng Hock Nan, Penang State Executive Councilor, Malaysia; Chung Chong Dug, mayor of Mokpo, the Republic of Korea; Joe Natoli, mayor of Maroochy Shire of Australia; Arif Afandi, deputy mayor of Surabaya City of Indonesia; Jorge Mora, CEO of Veolia Environment Asia; and Li Qiang, special assistant of executive general director of International Green Industry Cooperation Organization, spoke at the Forum.

In his speech, CPAFFC President Chen Haosu briefed about China’s friendship-city work. He said, entrusted by the Chinese Central Government, the CPAFFC and the CIFCA are responsible for coordinating and overseeing the work of twinning friendship cities between localities in China and their counterparts in other countries, and offer service for them with the aim of enhancing friendship between the people, promoting international cooperation, safeguarding world peace and bringing about common development. The Chinese Government always attaches great importance to and supports the international friendship-city activities and maintains that friendship cities should carry out substantial exchanges in line with the strategy of the development of the country and localities, and lay stress on their balanced and coordinated development. Chen said, the CIFIT that has been held ten times enjoys great popularity at home and abroad. We chose this opportunity to hold the Forum to discuss the problems in urban development in the hope of enriching substantial exchanges between friendship cities and providing a good platform for them to display their images and their investment environment. Chen expressed his belief that this Forum with the theme of Urban Environmental Protection and Circular Economy will be a practical and constructive one, and that with the concerted efforts, the Forum will be organized better and better and make important contributions to achieving a harmonious and sustained development of China and the world.

In her speech Deputy Governor Wang Meixiang briefed about the basic situation of Fujian Province and the achievements it had made since reform and opening up.She said, in order to give greater play to Fujian’s advantages over other mainland provinces and cities in its contact with Taiwan and serve the great cause of peaceful reunification of the motherland, Fujian is now concentrating its efforts to build up the Economic Zone on the Western Bank of the Taiwan Straits featured by opening to the outside world, coordinated development and all-round prosperity. At present “to support the economic development of the western bank of the Taiwan Straits” has become a policy decision of the Central Government and has been written in the country’s Eleventh Five Year Plan. This has offered a historical opportunity and expanded space for Fujian to develop itself and construct the Economic Zone on the Western Bank of the Taiwan Straits. She spoke highly of the role of international friendship cities as an important window and bridge for Fujian’s cooperation and exchanges with other countries. Fujian has twinned 46 pairs of friendship provinces and cities with 21 countries. In its exchanges with international friendship cities, Fujian works hard to forge true friendship and conduct substantial cooperation, and takes development of economic and trade cooperation on a mutually beneficial basis as an important aspect of the exchanges and has achieved good results. She stressed, at present urban environmental protection and circular economy that have become a hot issue in the economic life have drawn more and more attention from the governments at various levels and the masses of people. Wu Fengzhang, vice chairman of the CPPCC Xiamen Committee, and the president of the XMPAFFC, said in his speech, the CFIFCC has become an important project and an inseparable part of the efforts to enhance the communication of administrative ideas between the cities of different countries, strengthen the mutual understanding and trust between the people of China and its international friendship cities and promote international exchange and cooperation. He proposed that friendship cities of various countries work hand in hand to establish a transnational network of research and exchanges between cities, dedicate to the research and development of eco-city models and do useful exploration of sustainable development of the cities all round the world and create a better tomorrow with our wisdom and the sense of responsibility.

In their speeches, Chung Chong Dug, mayor of Mokpo, Republic of Korea; Joe Natoli, mayor of Maroochy Shire, Australia, and Jorge Mora, CEO of Veolia Environment Asia, spoke highly of the Chinese Government’s effort to actively carry out a comprehensive circular economy strategy, raise the efficiency of utilization of resources and minimize environmental pollution in its bid to build an energy-saving society and a recycling-oriented economic system, which will ultimately improve China’s industrial and consumption structure for its sustainable development. They hoped to take this Forum as an opportunity to carry out exchanges and cooperation with Chinese departments concerned. Arif Afandi, deputy mayor of Surabaya City, Indonesia, said that the Surabaya city government is making a plan to provide a clean, green and healthy environment for the citizens. For this, he invited the participants of the Forum to visit his city.

The 10th CIFIT specially set an “international friendship cities exhibition area”. Several international friendship cities from Australia and Japan mounted exhibitions there, adding much colour to the CIFIT.