US-China Sister Cities conference opens in Washington DC

Sister Cities International and the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries today opened a joint conference in the US with over 400 attendees from cities, industry and civil society in attendance.

Mr Xie Yuan, Vice-President of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, formally opened the conference today with over 130 representatives from China attending the event at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in downtown Washington. The US-China Sister Cities Conference began with a reception yesterday evening at the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China.

“The conference is an exciting opportunity for engaged citizens, business leaders, educators and city officials to identify and discuss new initiatives and share expertise on strengthening sub-national partnerships” said Mary Kane, President and CEO of Sister Cities International.

“Sister Cities International brings people together from across sectors and from around the world to address important global issues, and I’m looking forward to being a part of their 2014 US-China Conference,” said Andrew O’Brien, Special Representative for Global Partnerships at the US Department of State.

O’Brien is participating as part of US Department of State’s Global Partnerships Week which began with the announcement on Monday of a sister city agreement by US east coast city Boston and Northern Ireland’s Belfast, brokered by Belfast’s Lord Mayor Mairtin O’Muilleoir and Martin Walsh, Mayor of Boston.

“This is a coup for Belfast as the fastest-growing knowledge economy in Europe and as a city at the forefront of the world at peace building, we have much to offer Boston also,” Lord Mayor O’Muilleoir told the Belfast Telegraph.

Sister Cities International President Mary Kane told Cities Today she welcomed the announcement by member city Boston.

“I had the opportunity to recently visit Belfast as part of the US Department of State’s Global Partnership Initiative, specifically their new Partnership Opportunity Delegations and during our discussions with the Lord Mayor, the idea of a new sister city with Boston was discussed,” said Kane. “Yesterday, I had the honour of meeting with Mayor Marty Walsh and Lord Mayor Mairtin O’Muilleoir in Boston to discuss the structure of this new and very exciting partnership.”

A formal memorandum will be signed by the two cities in June.