On November 27, 2025, President Yang Wanming of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC) met with Mohamed Rasheed, President of the China Maldives Cultural Association (CMCA) and Chairman of the South Asia-China Friendship and Cooperation Organization. The two sides had an in-depth exchange of views on strengthening people-to-people exchanges and cooperation between China and Maldives, as well as between China and South Asian countries.
President Yang Wanming expressed gratitude to Mohamed Rasheed for his strong cooperation with the CPAFFC. He stated that South Asia is China's close neighbor and the two sides have tremendous potential for cooperation and broad prospects for development. China is ready to work with South Asian countries to seize historic opportunities and to build a South Asia that is peaceful, secure, united, cooperative, developing, and prosperous.
President Yang said that in mid-November, the CPAFFC, the South Asia-China Friendship and Cooperation Organization, and the CMCA successfully held the 9th China-South Asia Friendship Organization's Forum in Maldives, contributing significantly to the mutual understanding and win-win cooperation between China and South Asian countries. The CPAFFC will maintain communication and coordination with South Asian organizations friendly to China, such as the CMCA, to plan reciprocal delegation visits, strengthen subnational cooperation, continue to organize the China-South Asia Young Leaders Exchange Program, and further consolidate and improve the forum mechanism, making greater contributions to a closer China-South Asia community with a shared future.
Mohamed Rasheed spoke highly of the important role of the CPAFFC in building bridges of friendship between the people of China and foreign countries and congratulated President Yang on publishing the article titled "Guided by General Secretary Xi Jinping's Important Expositions, Contributing to the Community with a Shared Future for Mankind with People-to-People Exchanges." He expressed that the South Asia-China Friendship and Cooperation Organization will strengthen cooperation with the CPAFFC to jointly conduct more bilateral and multilateral exchange programs, add new content to cooperation between South Asia and China, and elevate the cause of friendship to a new level. The CMCA will strive to provide facilitation for Maldivian young leaders to study and conduct friendly exchanges in China.
CPAFFC Deputy Secretary-General Ji Yongjun and Deputy Directors-General Liu Fang and Xu Yan of the Department of Asian and African Affairs attended the meeting.
