A four-member delegation from the Communist Party of China (CPC) left Beijing on Sunday for visits to Germany, the United Kingdom and the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France.

The delegation, led by Zhang Zhijun, deputy head of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, has received invitations from the Social Democratic Party of Germany, Britain's Conservative Party and the People's Party of the European Parliament.

After the European tour, the delegation will head to South Africa for a conference of the Socialist International Commission for a Sustainable World Society at the invitation of the Socialist International.

(Xinhua News Agency February 15, 2009)