Anhui province in East China has established sister city relationships with 95 cities across the globe, as part of its effort to grow into a landlocked pacesetter of opening up, the Foreign Affairs Office of Anhui Provincial People’s Government said on Monday.
The province has 95 sister cities in 38 countries. 21 out of them were established at the provincial level, and 74 ones were at municipal levels.
The number of sister cities has increased year by year ever since the province established a friendly province-state tie with Maryland in the United States in 1980.
The province has 41 sister cities in Europe, 23 in Asia, 12 in North America, 9 in South America, 5 in Oceania and 5 in Africa.
The province has 10 sister cities in Japan, 8 in the United States and 7 in South Korea. There are 5 sister cities in Germany, Australia and Italy each, while 4 in Britain, Sweden and Argentina each. Countries home to 3 sister cities of Anhui are France, Russia, Spain and Brazil. The province has 2 sister cities in South Africa, Mexico, Hungary, Turkey, Denmark and Canada each.
Since January 1, 2018, the province has fostered sister city relationships with three more cities.
Sister cities are viewed as new forces behind the province’s opening up. Up to 83 overseas Fortune 500 companies have set up 158 enterprises in the province.
After the German Lower Saxony State and Anhui established friendship, the two sides signed an agreement to jointly develop Hefei University. The university has become a model of Sino-German educational cooperation.
Continental AG, an automotive supplier based in Hannover, capital of Lower Saxony State, opened its first Chinese plant in Hefei, capital of Anhui province, followed by an R&D center and its first training facility in the Asia-Pacific region.
The province won three awards at the 2018 China International Friendship Cities Conference, one of the most influential platforms for China’s local governments to carry out international exchanges.
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