CPAFFC Vice-President Yuan Mindao attends Fourth Shaoxing Friendship Cities Conference

Gao Yuan

O n May 19， CPAFFC Vice-President Yuan Mindao attended the Fourth China Shaoxing International Friendship Cities Conference and delivered a speech via video.

Saluting the successful convening of the conference， Yuan said that friendship city relations are an essential channel for subnational as well as friendly people-to-people exchanges， and it has provided a strong basis and pillar for maintaining relations between China and the rest of the world. Since the establishment of the first pair of sister cities in 1973， the cause of encouraging more Chinese cities to set up sistership with foreign counterparts has borne fruit. To date， 2，876 pairs of sister cities （province/ state） in 139 countries， have been created， forming an international circle of friends and a net of partners worldwide.

Yuan said that over the past 50 years or so Sino-foreign friendship cities have been carrying out extraordinary exchanges and pragmatic cooperation in various fields. With concerted efforts to tackle challenges and promote common development， they have consolidated both material and mental bases for friendship and made significant contributions to world peace and development.

China has established a new philosophy and paradigm for development and created an even broader space for other countries to share its development opportunities. This in turn created an essential opportunity for international friendship cities to strengthen their cooperation.

Yuan said that the CPAFFC and the China International Friendship Cities Association will continue to support China’s subnational exchanges with the rest of the world.

“Together with international friends， we will strive for a more friendly and better-developed future so that we can build a community of shared future for mankind，” he said.

The conference was hosted by the Shaoxing Municipal People’s Government and supported by the CPAFFC. Themed “Hand in hand for common development”， it had branch venues in Shaoxing’s 15 friendship cities and four international friendship organizations. Yue Shengchun， secretary of the Com- munist Party of China’s Shaoxing Municipal Committee， delivered a speech at the opening ceremony. Shaoxing Mayor Shi Huifang delivered a keynote speech. Ambassador of the Republic of Mali to China Didier Dacko， Ambassador of Mauritius to China Marie Roland Alain Wong Yen Cheon and representatives of foreign cities and friendship organizations from Russia， Belarus， Finland， Japan and Colombia delivered video speeches or exchanged views during the Mayors’ Forum. Online signing ceremonies nailed down cooperation projects by Shaoxing and its international friendship cities. The Shaoxing Initiative was launched at the conference， where broad consensus was reached on closer economic and trade ties， deepening cultural mutual learning， promoting people’s well-being and facilitating green development.