Nanjing set friendly Relationship with 3 foreign cities
Fueled by holding the World Historical & Cultural Cities Expo, on October 23rd, 2016, Nanjing signed the Sister City Relationship Agreement with the city York in UK, and also signed a letter of intent to build sister city relationship with Semarang in Indonesia, as well as a letter of intent to launch cultural cooperation with San Antonio in USA. Distinguished guests who attended the grand signing ceremony were Nanjing Mayor Ruilin Miao, Lord Mayor of York City David Taylor, Deputy Mayor of Semarang City Hevearita Gunaryanti Rahayu, Council Member of San Antonio City Rebecca Viegren and Deputy Mayor of Nanjing Wanjin Hu.
York is a city rich in historical and cultural heritages in northeastern England. With up to 2 million visitors each year, York is reputed as the second most visited city in England, followed by London. The Sister City Agreement between Nanjing and York seeks to, on one hand, set up tourism and cultural partnership by holding forums on ancient town preservation and urban development, and by conducting various cultural exchanges including exchanging art troupes, organizing tourism festivals in both cities, etc.; on the other hand, the agreement looks to enhance the cooperation in the fields of science, education, technology and economy by assigning specific project coordinators.
Semarang is the commercial port and the capital of Indonesia's Central Java province. As the third largest port in Indonesia, Semarang constantly exports sucrose, rubber and coffee to other regions of the world. It has been closely connected with China in history since the Ming Dynasty when Chinese explorer Zheng He led a fleet to the West. During the voyages, he named the place after landing his crew on Semarang, and hence Semarang became the first city in the world whose name was originated from Chinese. In the letter of intent, both sides agreed to carry out extensive exchanges and cooperation on the basis of friendship, equality and mutual benefits in terms of economy, trade, culture and education, to ultimately promote common prosperity and development. Considering Semarang’s critical positioning along the Silk Road, the signing ceremony has marked a big step forward in the implementation of the “One Belt One Road” policy.
San Antonio City is the seventh largest city in the United States, where most of the buildings could be dating back to 1930 or even before, endowing the city with a classic atmosphere and distinct Spanish style. The letter of intent signed with San Antonio addressed the collaboration in the fields of culture and education, with other themes such as the promotion of tourism, and two-way visit of historical and cultural heritage. The signing of the letter demonstrates the strong desire from both sides to pursue new opportunities for exchanges and cooperation.
List of Nanjing International sister cities:
Nanjing has continued its efforts to broaden its outreach. By November 2016, it has built up relationship with the following international sister cities:
St. Louis, U.S.A.;
Florence, Italy;
Eindhoven, Netherlands;
Leipzig, Germany;
Mexicali, Mexico;
Limassol, Cyprus;
Daejeon, South Korea;
London, Canada;
Perth, Australia;
Mangaung, South Africa;
Barranquill, Columbia;
Malacca, Malaysia;
Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei;
Windhoek, Namibia;
Magilev, Belarus.