City friendship is key for China

Over seven hundred representatives from 49 countries came together this week at the Third China International Friendship Cities Conference, which was held in Chengdu, in Sichuan province.

Following on from previous events in Beijing (2008) and Shanghai (2010), Chengdu attracted representatives from 185 cities (95 international and 90 Chinese) to debate a range of issues including urban transformation, disaster relief, city investment, and dealing with an ageing population.

At the opening ceremony, Li Xiaolin, President of the China People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC), one of the event’s co-hosts, said it was important to be inclusive and open in considering relations between cities because they are in different stages of development. At the same time, from a perspective of sustainable development, she warned that we must recognise the interdependency of cities and the mutual benefits of using resources wisely.

There are now 1906 pairs of friendship cities or provinces between China and the rest of the world, which date back to the first such ties formed between Tianjin, China and Kobe, Japan in 1973. New alliances signed this week included agreements between Chengdu and Perth in Australia and Maastricht in Holland.

“The agreement states that the two cities will cooperate in the areas of business, commerce, trade, education, energy, environmental protection, tourism, culture and governance, guided by the principles of mutual and complementary benefits and common prosperity,” said Lisa Scaffidi, Lord Mayor of Perth. “We live in an increasingly globalised environment and there is so much to be gained by co-operation.”

Other new agreements were signed by Yuncheng, Shanxi province and Marmande in France; by Baoshan in Yunnan province and Tamar in Israel; and on a regional level, between Sichuan province and the Région de Champagne-Ardennes in France.

Over 80 global friendship awards were made to cities and regions at a special ceremony on day two of the conference. One of the guests of honour, Romano Prodi, the former Prime Minister of Italy and past President of the EU Commission, stressed how important it was for Chinese cities to reach out globally.

“China is working all over the world and is the only country in history that is exporting goods, capacity, and technology together, so it has a growing experience of the world and a responsibility to export the experience it has accumulated,” said Prodi. “Asia, Latin America and Africa will all benefit from the experience that China has accumulated.”