A government delegation headed by Tian Jinchen, Party chief of Yanbian Korean autonomous prefecture, visited Ningbo on Oct 27. 

Ningbo was paired with Yanbian in Northeast China's Jilin province under the "pairing assistance" program launched by the central government in 1995, which sees more prosperous provinces and municipalities in East China lend support to underdeveloped regions of the country.

Tian commended Ningbo's long-term support for Yanbian in poverty alleviation, saying the two places have become close friends as they work together to build a moderately prosperous society in all respects.

Agricultural products from Yanbian are popular among Ningbo residents, while traveling to Ningbo and using products manufactured from the city have become preferences among people from Yanbian, he said. 

Tian expressed hope that the two places would strengthen cooperation in rural revitalization, industry, and the marine economy and strengthen bilateral exchange among government bodies, enterprises, and research intitutes, thus setting an example for the nation's east-west cooperation strategy for poverty relief.

Qiu Dongyao, mayor of Ningbo, congratulated Yanbian on its achievements in poverty elimination, pledging that the city will continue its efforts to support Yanbian in poverty alleviation and continuously expand bilateral cooperation.

He also stressed that efforts should be made to facilitate rural revitalization in the prefecture. 

Agreements for 13 industrial cooperation projects between the two places, involving elderly care, agricultural equipment, tourism, traditional Chinese medicine, and film and television, were signed at the conference.

The delegation, during their stay in Ningbo, also visited the places including cross-border e-commerce and import commodity market in the Ningbo Bonded Area, the Chuanshan Port Area of the Ningbo Zhoushan Port, Tengtou village, and Youngor Group.