Ｅｘｐｅｄｉｔｉｏｎ Ｐａｒｉｓ－Ｂｅｉｊｉｎｇ ｂｙ Ｂｉｃｙｃｌｅ ２００８ Ｌａｕｎｃｈｅｄ

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From March 15 to17, at the invitation of the Euro-Chinese Friendship Association (ECFA) of France, a CPAFFC representative attended the launching ceremony of the Expedition Paris-Beijing by Bicycle 2008 in Paris, during which he met with officials of the National Commission on Decentralized Cooperation (Commission Nationale de la Cooperation Decentralisee-CNCD) of France.

The Expedition Paris-Beijing by Bicycle 2008, organized by the French Cycle Touring Federation (FCTF) and sponsored by the ECFA of France, is a large-scale nongovernmental friendly sports activity. The CPAFFC is one of the presidents of the Committee of Honour of the activity. 118 amateur cyclists aged 59 on average from over 10 countries will travel 12,000 km by bicycle for about 4 months from Europe to Asia and arrive in Beijing before the opening of the 2008 Olympic Games. This activity has won support of the Office of the French President, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry for Youth, Sports and Community Life, and the French National Olympics and Sports Committee (Comite National Olympique et Sportif Francais-CNOSF). The launching ceremony was held at the Chaillot Palace Square, opposite the Eiffel Tower on March 15 and 16. Present at the ceremony were Qu Xing, chargé daffaires of the Chinese Embassy in France, Pu Tong, minister counsellor of culture of the Chinese Embassy in France, Sophie Dion, adviser for sports to the French president, Chiristine Lagarde, economy and finance minister, Bernard Laporte, secretary of state for sports, Jean-Francois Lamour, former minister for youth, sports and community life, and Henri Serandour, president of the CNOSF. In his speech, president of the FCTF expressed his sincere gratitude to the CPAFFC for its valuable support for the activity.

The CNCD of France, initiated and established by the Office of French President, with its secretariat in the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is a central consultative institution for coordinating cooperation between local governments of various countries. In November 2007, the Second High Level China-France Forum on Local Government Cooperation jointly sponsored by the CNCD and the CPAFFC, was successfully held in Bordeaux. The CPAFFC representative had a working meeting with the CNCD Secretary General Antoine Joly about the Third High Level China-France Forum on Local Government Cooperation.