Guiyang, Palmerston North celebrate 30th anniversary of sister city relationship

Guiyang and Palmerston North celebrate the 30th anniversary of the establishment of sister city relations via video link on Aug 17. [Photo provided to english.guiyang.gov.cn]

Guiyang, capital of Southwest China's Guizhou province, and Palmerston North in New Zealand celebrated the 30th anniversary of the establishment of sister city relations via video link on Aug 17.

At the celebration meeting, the two cities signed a reaffirmation of the agreement on the sister city relationship between the two cities and gave each other souvenirs for the 30th anniversary.

Participating officials included Ma Ningyu, mayor of Guiyang, Grant Smith, mayor of Palmerston North, Yan Dong, deputy director of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, Wang Xiaolong, Chinese Ambassador to New Zealand, Clare Fearnley, New Zealand Ambassador to China, and Zhang Hanlin, director of the Foreign Affairs Office of Guizhou Province, among others.

Ma Ningyu expressed his respect and gratitude to people who have contributed to the friendly exchanges between the two cities over the years. He said that Guiyang has an excellent ecology, pleasant climate, and strong transportation infrastructure and boasts openness and inclusiveness, rapid development and huge potential.

It is hoped that the two sides will further deepen exchanges and cooperation in trade, agriculture, culture, education and other fields and jointly create a new model for sister city exchanges and cooperation, Ma said.

Grant Smith expressed his gratitude to all New Zealand and Chinese people who have promoted the development of China-New Zealand relations. He said Palmerston North is an innovative and growing city. Guiyang is rich in ethnic culture, profound in history, and has developed rapidly in urban construction and transportation, especially in the development and transformation of agricultural technology, digital economy and other fields.

The two sides are expected to strengthen exchanges and cooperation in the fields of ethnic culture, eco-tourism, agricultural technology, sustainable development, and digital economy, Smith added.

Yan Dong said that since Guiyang and Palmerston North established a sister city relationship 30 years ago, they have always respected and trusted each other, and achieved fruitful results in agriculture, animal husbandry, education, science and technology and other fields, benefiting the people of both sides.

Wang Xiaolong said that the Palmerston North government has formulated a long-term plan for cooperation with local governments in China and attaches great importance to cooperation with Guiyang.

Palmerston North is committed to promoting the development of the two sides in the fields of agriculture, animal husbandry, education, aviation technology and anti-epidemic efforts.

The Chinese Embassy in New Zealand will continue to support and promote the development of the sister city relationship between Guiyang and Palmerston North, and actively promote personnel exchanges and cooperation in various fields between the two cities, Wang added.

Clare Fearnley said that since Palmerston North and Guiyang signed the sister city agreement, the two sides have conducted a series of exchanges and cooperation on a series of projects in agriculture, education, tourism and other industries, achieving fruitful results.

Guiyang boasts huge potential for tourism development, and the border of New Zealand is about to reopen. She hoped that tourists from Guiyang will be able to visit New Zealand again and that the people of New Zealand will be able to enjoy the beautiful scenery of Guiyang as soon as possible.

Zhang Hailin said that Guiyang and Palmerston North have carried out a series of lasting and fruitful cooperation in agriculture, animal husbandry and education, which has become a model of cooperation between the Guizhou and New Zealand local governments.

Guizhou attaches great importance to developing friendly relations with New Zealand local governments and hopes to take the celebration meeting as an opportunity to continuously expand cooperation between the two places in agriculture, tourism and other fields, Zhang added.