The mayors of Zhuhai, Guangdong Province and Heihe, Heilongjiang Province signed a letter of intent for friendly cooperation with three Russian cities, Blagoveshchensk, Nizhni Novgorod, and Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, on Nov 17 during a video conference held to deepen friendship and exchanges.

Zhuhai Mayor Huang Zhihao said during the meeting that the city has achieved remarkable outcomes in friendly cooperation and communications with Heihe and Blagoveshchensk in recent years, adding that the video meeting has marked a new chapter in the friendship of the five cities as Nizhni Novgorod and Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk became two new friendly cities of Zhuhai.

Huang expressed hope that more cooperation achievements could be made as the Sino-Russia relationship has reached a new height.

Signing ceremony [Photo courtesy WeChat account: zhuhaifabu]

Mayors of the other four cities all spoke highly of the important meaning that the five cities have further established friendly-city relationships. They also noted that they would further promote exchanges and cooperation to achieve mutually beneficial development. 

According to the letter of intent, the five cities will strive to boost sub-national cooperation between Russia and China by establishing an exchange and cooperation liaison mechanism. They will also carry out comprehensive multi-level exchanges and cooperation, especially in the areas of economy, trade, technology, culture, education, as well as tourism.

As of now, Zhuhai has established sister-city relationships with 16 overseas cities and friendship-city ties with 22 overseas cities in 30 countries. The total number of Zhuhai's sister and friendship cities currently ranks third in Guangdong Province behind Guangzhou and Shenzhen.