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Jiangsu Provincial Leader Hopes for More Sister-Cities
East China's Jiangsu province will work harder to establish more sister-city relationships with their foreign counterparts.
"At the turn of the century, we hope to make more friends, so as to promote Jiangsu's opening-up drive," Wang Rongbing, deputy governor of Jiangsu province said at the 2000 China International Friendship Cities Conference, which ended Thursday.
At the three-day event, Wang also attended the signing ceremony of agreements under which 22 pairs of sister-city relationship were established. Among them, four cities are located in Jiangsu.
So far, cities in Jiangsu have established sister-city relationships with 139 cities in 33 countries.
Statistics show that through sister-city channels, 150 economic and trade seminars have been held in Jiangsu, pushing forward the export and import of commodities valued at 1.1 billion U.S. dollars and attracting more than 1,000 foreign investors.
In addition, sister-city ties have also promoted development in areas of culture, education and medical care in Jiangsu.
Such relationships have helped set up eight education exchange centers in the province.
"Sister-city relationships have played a role in promoting personal friendships, linking Jiangsu and foreign local authorities and pushing ahead with Jiangsu's opening-up drive," Wang said.
During the conference, Wang held separate meetings with more than 20 foreign local leaders, discussing ways to further strengthen economic and trade cooperation between sister cities.
He said that after China's entry into the World Trade Organization, China will be able to better integrate into the global economy, and Jiangsu needs to promote exchanges with the rest of the world, and make good use of domestic and overseas markets and resources.
The deputy governor said that cities in developing countries have complementary economies with Jiangsu, and they have an interest in advancing cooperation, therefore, there exists great potential for cooperation between them.
Wang said his province hopes to further cooperate with its foreign counterparts in such areas as urban administration, environmental protection, agriculture and technology.
"We hope that through sister-city relationships, Jiangsu will better understand the rest of the world, and vice versa," he said.
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