A "Friendship Around the World" Painting Competition has been held at which 400 local and international teens expressed blessings for this year's 40th anniversary of the Zhuhai Special Economic Zone.

Exceptional works include The Painting of Canelones by Juan Gabriel Barreto Rodriguez, Italian-Chinese Brotherhood by Manila Carmen Lorenzoni, Welcome to Portsmouth by Wu Yujie, and Connecting With the World – Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge by Cai Xinxin.

Italian-Chinese Brotherhood by Manila Carmen Lorenzoni with these words: No matter where we come from, we are brothers [Photo provided to Guanhai App] 

Initiated by the Zhuhai Foreign Affairs Office in September, the competition was joined by teenagers from Atami, Japan; Suwon, South Korea; Portsmouth; Britain; La Spezia, Italy; and Atlantida, Uruguay.

A panel of experts from Zhuhai and five Sister Cities selected 322 entries after preliminary selection, re-evaluation, recommendation, and final selection. All nine award-winning paintings will be exhibited in the "Story of Zhuhai, China" section of China Photography Online (http://www.cphoto.net).

Zhuhai has increasingly expanded its international friends circle from when Surrey, Canada was named its first Sister City in 1987 until La Spezia became the 16th in 2019. The cities have mutually benefitted from cooperation in economy and commerce, science and technology, port matters, culture, education, and public health.