The foreign affairs office of Jining, which is located in East China's Shandong province, held an online meeting with officials from Pskov in Russia on July 21 in an effort to establish cooperation between the two cities.

Yang Fuxue, director of Jining's foreign affairs office, and Tatiana Pustoshkina, head of Pskov's international relations department, gave a brief introduction of their cities at the meeting. The two sides discussed details about an agreement to build a sister city relationship and its signing ceremony, as well as projects they plan to cooperation on. Concrete efforts will be made to enhance the two cities' cooperation in fields such as trade, education, culture, tourism, and exchanges among youth.

Jining attaches great importance to its relationship with Russia. It has held a meeting for art schools in Shandong and Russia, and has been actively strengthening cooperation between Jining University, Jining Polytechnic, and Pskov State University by working with the China-Russia (Shandong) International Education and Cooperation Union.

Pskov is the capital of Pskov Oblast and one of the oldest cities in Russia. It is the home of Alexander Pushkin, a great Russian poet and novelist. In 2019, Pskov was included on the list of World Heritage Sites by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.