In the latter part of August, 23 officials from some African cities with twinned friendship-city ties with China attended a seminar sponsored by the CPAFFC during a two-week stay in the country. They came from 11 French-speaking nations — namely, Morocco, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, Benin, Mauritius, Mali, Cote d’lvoire, Togo, Chad, Madagascar and Cape Verde.
　　 While in Beijing, experts from the Development Research Center of the State Council, Ministry of Culture, Beijing Municipal Commission of Urban Planning, Beijing Tourism Development Committee, Communication University of China, Tsinghua University and the Capital Normal University, as well as leaders of the CPAFFC gave lectures about China’s regional economic development, urban infrastructure planning and the strategy of urban tourism development, urban environmental management, Beijing’s international art festival and China’s policy on exchanges with African friendship cities that drew a favorable response.
　　 The participants also visited Hangzhou, Yiwu and Jinhua in Zhejiang Province for a week. In Hangzhou the 8th Conference on Sino-African Friendship Cities and Cooperation between Chinese and African Local Governments was held. Government officials, enterpreneurs and scholars from 11 cities in Zhejiang Province namely Hangzhou, Ningbo, Wenzhou, Huzhou, Jiaxing, Shaoxing, Jinhua, Quzhou, Zhou- shan, Wenling and Lishui briefed on their cities and enterprises and expressed eagerness for trade and investment in Africa. Attendees from Cote d’lvoire, Cape Verde, Mauritius and Togo also briefed about their countries’ investment environment, infrastructure, financial services, etc., and expressed a welcome to local governments and businessmen of Zhejiang cities to visit their countries. The participants of the seminar also visited the Yiwu International Trade City, particularly the African Commodities Display and Sales Center. So far, more than 20 African countries have exhibition halls there, and participants from countries that had not yet done so pledged they would urge their governments to consider this way of letting more Chinese people know about developing Africa.
　　 At present China has more than 1,790 pairs of friendship province/city arrangements with countries around the world, but only some 100 with Africa, accounting for around six percent of the total. In Africa the trend of decentralization has gradually deepened, and local governments are playing a more and more important role in development, economic construction and improvement of people’s life. Many countries have established a Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentrilization or Ministry of the Interior to promote this process. Various kinds of local government associations are active. Now, exchanges between China and Africa in such areas as politics, economy, trade, culture, health, science and technology are developing rapidly with gratifying achievements. However, there is still much room for the exchanges between local governments to expand. The convening of the first Seminar for Officials from Friendship Cities of French- Speaking African Countries helped strengthen city-level diplomacy between China and African countries, overcoming the somewhat stagnant state of Sino-African friendship city ties and promote their sound development.