Established in 1981, the Chinese Association for International Understanding (CAFIU) is composed by social activists, scholars and representatives from all walks of life. CAFIU is registered as a non-profit organization with the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and acquired special consultative status with UN ECOSOC in May, 2003. The Executive Council is CAFIU’s highest organ of power, which is elected every five years. The Secretariat is responsible for day-to-day work. The 12th Executive Council was elected in May of 2019, boasting 71 members that come from political parties, government organs, academic institutions, cultural and art circle, media, NGOs and business sector. The current president is H.E Ji Bingxuan Vice-Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress.

 

Aiming at “letting the world understand China, and letting China understand the world”, CAFIU serves as a platform for dialogue and communications. It is committed to enhancing mutual understanding and friendly cooperation between China and other countries, promoting exchanges and mutual learning among different civilizations, safeguarding world peace, and empowering the building of a common community for the shared future of mankind.

 

Concerned with new trends and features in political, economic and cultural fields, CAFIU focuses its activities on international relations, party politics, economic cooperation, culture, education, poverty-alleviation and development, as well as people-to-people exchanges.

 

CAFIU has established ties and conducted exchanges with associations, political organizations and research institutes of dozens of countries, as well as well-known international organizations. CAFIU also participates in the activities with UN entities, and keeps regular contact with some international organizations.  The cooperation between CAFIU and its partners takes various forms, including exchange of visits and study tours, organizing high-level dialogues for domestic and overseas participants, organizing and participating in bilateral and multilateral international activities such as the “Understanding and Cooperation” series initiatives and cultural exchanges with different countries, assisting foreign NGOs’ activities in China for public interest, and supporting Chinese NGOs in international exchanges and poverty-alleviation programs.