Invited by the Ministry of Commerce(MOFCOM), Mr. Kandeh K.Yumkella, Director General(DG) of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), and his party paid an official visit to China during March 25th to 29th, 2006.

It is the first official visit to member states by UNIDO new DG since he took the position in last December. Mr. Yumkella visited Beijing, Lanzhou and Shanghai in China.

Mr. Gao Hucheng, vice minister of MOFCOM met with Mr. Yumkella and his party, and hosted a banquet for the group. The two sides exchanged views on issues of South-South cooperation, on-going UN management reform, strengthening China-UNIDO cooperation, and other topics of comment concern. Mr. Yumkella also had meetings in Beijing respectively with Mr. Li Jinbin, Vice Governor of Jilin Province, and Mr. Zhu Guangyao, Vice Minister of the State Environment Protection Administration.

Prior coming to Beijing, Mr. Yumkella attended the inauguration ceremony in Lanzhou for the UNIDO International Solar Energy Center for Technology Development and Transfer; and visited the local solar energy demonstration center; while in Shanghai, he met with the municipality's Executive Vice Mayor Feng Guoqin, and signed the project document of the second phase of UNIDO-Shanghai Investment and Technology Promotion Center, together with Mr. Wang Yue, Director General of CICETE and Mr. Zhou Bo, Director General of Shanghai Bureau of Foreign Economic Relations and Trade. Before leaving the city, Mr. Yumkella also gave a lecture to students of the Shanghai Institute of Foreign Trade.

The group was accompanied by Mr. Wang Yue, and related staff of Program Division.