On 19th of December a representative of the Foreign Relations Department of the Moscow Patriarchate, Fr Dionisy Pozdnyaev, made a visit to the State Religious Affairs Bureau adjoined to the Government of the People's Republic of China, where he met with the section coordinator of the Fourth Department, Mr. Wang Yangming, as well as with other responsible officials from the above mentioned institution.
In the conversation that followed both parties talked about the state of affairs concerning the parishes of the Chinese Autonomous Orthodox Church and the training of Chinese students at the spiritual schools of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Both sides expressed their mutual interest consisted in the quick normalization of situation with the Orthodox communities in the People's Republic of China, and also a need was recognized for future contacts and consultations, especially those leading to the development of direct official relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and the State Religious Affairs Bureau of PRC. After finishing the official conversation, Mr. Wang Yangming invited Fr. Dionisy Pozdnyaev on a friendly meal, during which an informal discussion continued on number of questions of mutual interest.