On January 21, 2008, the sixth general meeting of the Council of the Chinese People's Institute of Foreign Affairs (CPIFA) was held in Beijing. Speaking at the meeting, Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said that as an important non-governmental public diplomatic organization with a long and glorious history the CPIFA has played a unique and irreplaceable role of supporting China's diplomacy at different historical periods.

He stressed that the non-governmental public diplomacy faces "both unprecedented opportunities and challenges". The CPIFA enjoys increasing advantages of conducting high-level non-governmental foreign exchanges, serving as a non-governmental communication channel and raising original opinions on international issues. He expressed hope that the CPIFA makes continuous efforts to contribute more to the development of China's non-governmental public diplomacy.

The CPIFA was founded in 1949 at the initiative of late Premier Zhou Enlai as the first specialized non-governmental public diplomatic organization. Its current honorary chairman is former Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing and chairman is Yang Wenchang.