Shenzhen Boosts Ties with Foreign CounterpartsWith Houston of the United States as its first sister city in 1986, Shenzhen, a coastal city in South China, has so far established friendship city ties with counterparts of 8 countries.As a small fishing village two decades ago, Shenzhen, the first Special Economic Zone of China, has grown into a prosperous metropolis. Shenzhen has made rapid progress in bilateral exchanges and cooperation with its friendship cities in the economic and cultural sectors. Last year, a Houston delegation came to Shenzhen to attend the China First International High-tech Trade Fair. Shenzhen has benefited from close bilateral economic and cultural relations since it joined hands in 1991 with another counterpart, Brescia province of Italy. The Chamber of Commerce of Brescia has twice organized training courses on enterprise management for various Shenzhen managers. The Youth Team of Shenzhen Peace Football Club went to Brescia in 1998, where they undertook ten months of training. In June 1996, Li Decheng, vice-mayor of Shenzhen, signed an agreement establishing friendship ties with Lome, the capital of Togo, in response to the proposal made by Togolese President Gnassingbe Eyadema in the previous year. Subsequently, the two sides carried out wide-range exchanges relating to economy and culture. In November 1997, the Shenzhen trade delegation held the ''97 China (Shenzhen) Products Exhibition Fair in Lome. Shenzhen's friendship cities also include Brisbane in Australia, Poznan in Poland, Vienne Province in France and Nuremberg in German. Shenzhen has expanded exchanges and cooperation with its counterparts to include culture, economy, education, public health, sports, the press, environmental protection, urban administration and public servants training. |
| People's Daily Online --- http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/ |