Guiyang's efforts to increase number of intl friends pay off

Guiyang, capital of Southwest China's Guizhou province, has long stressed the importance of sister cities, greatly increasing the number of sister cities it has and strengthening the quality of exchanges.

A spectacular view of Guiyang [Photo/Guiyang news network]

In 1992, Palmerston North in New Zealand became Guiyang's first sister city. Currently, Guiyang has three sister cities and 21 friendly exchange cities, mainly focusing on exchanges in economy and trade, culture, tourism, sports, education, youth and other fields.

The cities include Fort Worth, San Francisco and Cupertino in the United States, Burnaby in Canada, Liverpool in the United Kingdom, Vicenza in Italy, Paranaque in the Philippines, Vitebsk in Belarus, and Kaysone Phomvihane in Laos.

In terms of regional distribution, 10 of the cities are in Europe, six in Asia, five in North America, two in South America, and one in Oceania. Also, there are 15 in countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative and seven in countries that belong to the RCEP.

Guiyang has pushed forwards its relations with international sister cities in six aspects.

Promote the construction of sister cities driven by economic and trade cooperation

With the help of overseas commercial representative offices, international forums and platforms, Guiyang has actively promoted friendly cooperation in trade and investment.

For example, the city of Solingen in Germany excels in the manufacturing of consumer goods such as knives. Looking to work with the city on business and cultural tourism projects, Guiyang signed a letter of intent to become a sister city of Solingen.

In view of Uruguay's strength in the fields of animal husbandry and infrastructure construction, Guiyang and Riviera of Uruguay also signed a letter of intent to become sister cities, and enterprises in the two cities have explored cooperation in trade and park construction.

Deepen traditional friendships through education and culture

Guiyang has maintained close ties with sister cities and has carried out various forms of non-governmental exchanges.

The Youth Education Exchange Project between Guiyang and Fort Worth has been in effect since 2011, promoting educational and cultural exchanges between the two cities. In 2021, the two cities jointly held an online photo exhibition for the 10th anniversary of the establishment of sister city relations.

2022 marked the 50th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between China and New Zealand and the 30th anniversary of sister city relations between Guiyang and Palmerston North. The two cities successfully held a 30th-anniversary commemorative meeting through video link.

In addition, since the beginning of exchanges with Japan's Eniwa City in the 1980s, the two cities have carried out various forms of friendly exchange activities in the fields of culture, education, medical care and health, and jointly built the Guiyang China-Japan Friendship Cherry Garden in Baiyun district in Guiyang.

Cultivate the foundation for friendly exchanges by taking the opportunity of international anti-epidemic cooperation

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Guiyang has donated 294,000 medical masks to 13 cities, including Palmerston North, County Meath in Ireland, and Semarang in Indonesia.

In the name of the mayor, Guiyang has sent letters of sympathy to the mayors of 15 cities including Solingen in Germany, Yokohama in Japan, and Barcelona in Spain, and received letters of thanks or sympathy from 11 cities including Burnaby in Canada.

Gather international city resources by giving full play to open platforms

During the 2021 Eco Forum Global Guiyang, representatives from nine international cities, including Istanbul in Turkey, Cupertino in the US, and Tripolis in Greece, delivered keynote speeches online to further strengthen city exchanges and cooperation.

Guiyang promoted the signing of a friendly agreement to promote big data development with Jeonju City in South Korea during the 2021 China International Big Data Industry Expo in order to provide a guarantee for the two sides in carrying out big data exchanges and cooperation.

For the 2023 China International Big Data Industry Expo, Guiyang is planning the international sister city forum and digital achievement exhibition, and looks forward to sharing achievements and insights in the field of digital economy among sister cities.

Join the United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) to expand Guiyang's international influence

Since becoming a member of the UCLG in August 2020, Guiyang has participated in related activities, such as the UCLG Asia Pacific (ASPAC) Executive Bureau Meeting.

The city has maintained close communication with the UCLG ASPAC Secretariat and member cities, enhancing Guiyang's popularity in UCLG.

Increase number of international friends through online signing

Guiyang has overcome various difficulties related to the inability to realize personnel exchanges during the pandemic, and signed letters of intent to establish friendly exchange relations with cities via video link, such as Rivera City in Uruguay, Sumy in Ukraine, and Paranaque in the Philippines.

Moving forward, Guiyang plans to adhere to the country's overall diplomatic strategy and efforts to open up, gain more international sister cities, and cooperate with relevant countries and cities in education, culture, economy and trade, tourism, and science and technology in order to further open up.