CPPCC Chairman Arrives in Ottawa for Official Visit to CanadaAt the invitation of Canadian government, Li Ruihuan, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), arrived Ottawa Monday afternoon for a six-day official visit.This is the first visit by the CPPCC National Committee chairman and also the first leg of Li's ongoing four-nation visit of America.The three other countries are Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago, and Peru. Li and his entourage were welcomed at the airport by Speaker of the Senate of Canada Gildas Molgat and other Canadian officials. In a written speech delivered at the airport, Li said that this year, the 30th anniversary of establishing diplomatic ties between China and Canada, is one of important significance for bilateral relationship. Over the past 30 years, especially in recent years, the cooperative relations of mutual benefit between the two countries have enjoyed sustained and stable development in all aspects including politics, economy science and technology, education and culture, he said. "Understanding and friendship between peoples of the two countries have also been deepened," he added. "There exists no resentment against each other in history between the two countries, and on conflict of fundamental interest either," he stressed. "At the same time, economies of the two countries are highly complementary, and we also have wide range of common interest in safeguarding regional and world peace and stability, promoting the prosperity and development of the mankind, " he added. Li reiterated that the Chinese government has valued the friendly relations with Canada and is willing to join hands with the Canadian government and people to boost the all-round partnership relations between the two countries. Chinese Ambassador to Canada Mei Ping, staff of the Chinese Ambassy, representatives of overseas Chinese and Chinese students in Canada were also at the airport welcoming Li and his entourage. Arriving at the same time were Li's entourage: Zheng Wantong, secretary-general of the CPPCC National Committee, Wang Senhao, chairman of the Subcommittee of Social and Legal Affairs of the CPPCC National Committee, An Qiyuan, chairman of Shaanxi Provincial CPPCC Committee, Wang Liping, chairman of Shanghai Municipal CPPCC Committee, Chu Zhuang, vice chairman of the Central Committee of China Association for Promoting Democracy, Yang Jiechi, deputy foreign minister, Shen Peng, vice chairman of China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and Li Changjian, deputy secretary-general of the CPPCC National Committee and director of Li's office. |
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