Virtual celebration of 40th anniversary of friendly relations between Shijiazhuang and Nagano

Foreign Affairs Office of the Shijiazhuang Municipal Government

O n the afternoon of April 19， 2021， an online video conference was held to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the establishment of friendshipcity relations between Shijiazhuang， Hebei province， and Nagano， Japan. It was attended by Ma Yujun， deputy secretary of the Shijiazhuang Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China and mayor of Shijiazhuang； Wang Lizhong， director-general of the Foreign Affairs Office of the Peoples Government of Hebei Province； Hisao Katou， mayor of Nagano； and Kazuki Ito， chief planning and promotion director of Nagano Prefecture.

Mayor Ma gave a speech in which he expressed his deep gratitude to people from all walks of life who are committed to developing friendly relations between the two cities. Since Shijiazhuang and Nagano forged friendshipcity relationship 40 years ago， they have conducted frequent cultural， eco- nomic and educational exchanges. The two sides have sent more than 100 delegations and more than 2，000 people for mutual visits.

Ma added that since the COVID-19 outbreak， the two cities have held each others hands to overcome difficulties and challenges and sent personal protective equipment and letters of sympathy to each other， which embodies the profound friendship.

Over the past 40 years， cooperation between the two cities has been pragmatically deepened with mutual respect and trust， and the friendship has become stronger based on mutual help and support. Development has been steady and far-reaching in mutual learning and exchange， which has made a positive contribution to maintaining and promoting the development of China-Japan relations.

Ma noted that Shijiazhuang has focused on economic development， so- cial progress and improving peoples quality of life in recent years. The city is planning to build the China （Hebei） Pilot Free Trade Zones Zhengding Area with high standards to open wider to the world and strive to create competitive advantages in international cooperation. He said he sincerely hopes the two cities can take the 40th anniversary of the friendship-city relationship as a new starting point to carry forward and inherit traditional friendship； deepen practical exchanges and cooperation in areas such as tourism， gardening and environmental protection， agricultural technology， technological innovation and industrial development， among others； and further strengthen people-to-people and cultural exchanges in education and training， culture and sports for young people. Efforts should be made to build a new type of friendship city relationship that is more stable， sustainable and dynamic， to benefit the people of the two cities and open a bright chapter in their friendly exchanges.

Hisao Katou expressed his heartfelt gratitude to Shijiazhuang for helping Nagano during the pandemic. He noted that Nagano and Shijiazhuang， which had established a relationship as sister cities in 1981， have continuously deepened exchanges and cooperation and enhanced their friendship. In particular， the mutual visits of the middle school students from the two cities have provided excellent opportunities for young people， who will shoulder the important responsibilities of the times， to understand each other better and learn more about each others cultures. He expressed hope that the two cities would further develop exchanges and cooperation in various fields such as economy， tourism， culture and sports， support each other， progress hand-inhand， strengthen cooperation and bring benefits to their citizens. These efforts will enhance the friendship between the two sides and promote peace， prosperity and development between the two cities， he said.

Wang Lizhong congratulated Nagano and Shijiazhuang on the 40th anniversary of friendship-city relations. He said the exchange activities of the two cities in education， culture， sports， agriculture and other areas have achieved fruitful results. The stable and pragmatic relationship of mutual trust between the two cities has become a good example for local exchanges and cooperation between China and Japan， he said.

This year is the China-Japan Cultural and Sports Exchange Promotion Year. Wang said he sincerely hopes that Hebei province and Nagano prefecture， as well as the cities of Shijiazhuang and Nagano， will take the 40th anniversary video conference as an opportunity to continue strengthening communication and exchanges to deepen practical cooperation in humanities， sports， economy， trade， education and other fields. The Foreign Affairs Office of Peoples Government of Hebei Province will continue to provide support， Wang said.

Kazuki Ito offered his congratulations for the 40th anniversary of the establishment of friendship-city relations. He mentioned that Nagano prefecture， Nagano city and the JapanChina Friendship Association would cheer for the Chinese athletes at the Tokyo Olympic Games， and that they are looking forward to the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing as well. He hoped that friendly relations between Hebei and Nagano would be further developed.

During the conference， publicity and promotional videos commemorating the 40th anniversary of the establishment of friendship-city relations between Shijiazhuang and Nagano were shown， giving a great retrospective and insight on the exchange activities of the two cities over the past 40 years. The videos also showed the current economic and social development of the two cities， which have enhanced mutual understanding and friendship between people on both sides.