Yunnan Provincial People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries

On November 19, the 2024 China International Sister Cities Conference concluded successfully in Kunming, Yunnan Province. With the theme of "Sharing, Win-Win, and Creating a Future Together," this conference was attended by more than 700 people from 41 countries, 66 provinces, states, 125 cities, 66 representatives of local government organizations or friendly organizations, as well as experts and business people. .

The conference was co-sponsored by the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, the China International Sister Cities Federation and the Yunnan Provincial People's Government. The China International Sister Cities Conference is the largest and highest-level institutional conference related to sister cities in China. Since 2008, it has been held seven times in Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Chongqing, Wuhan and Kunming.

What is the significance of the International Sister Cities Conference? Sister city exchanges have positive effects on Sino-foreign exchanges

and socioeconomic development?

How will China further develop and promote the

Building sister-city relationships?

November 20th

Yang Wanming, President of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries

Accepted an exclusive interview with The Paper in writing

Yang Wanming said that over the past half century, the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries has joined hands with local governments at all levels in China to actively carry out in-depth exchanges and cooperation with sister cities around the world, and has achieved remarkable and fruitful results. "Sister city exchanges have established a friendly relationship between people. "Connecting hearts and minds, we have created a through train for economic and trade cooperation, paved a happy road that benefits people's livelihood, and opened up a new model of regional cooperation."

Yang Wanming said that this conference also reflects the important role of international sister city work in promoting regional economic integration, serving regional economic and social development, and people's livelihood and well-being, whether it is the theme forum or the four parallel forums involving smart cities, green development, Cultural inheritance and transportation interconnection are currently issues of common concern to the international community. At the same time, through this conference, many counterpart partners who had been disconnected due to the epidemic have restored contact, and many local governments and friendly organizations have established new communication channels. All parties have unanimously expressed their willingness to rely on the platform of the International Sister Cities Conference to continuously expand and Deepen cooperation.

Yang Wanming said that cultural exchanges are an important way for the younger generation to understand each other and establish friendship. Strengthening communication and dialogue among young people from various countries and enhancing understanding and trust will lay a solid public opinion foundation for the development of national relations. It is hoped that various forms of Chinese and foreign youth exchange programs will be carried out more extensively to inject youthful vitality into sister city cooperation, so that the great cause of people-to-people friendship can be passed on from generation to generation and continue to flourish.

The following is the full transcript of the interview:

Sister-city exchanges build bridges for people-to-people exchanges

The Paper:The 2024 China International Sister Cities Conference has successfully concluded. How do you evaluate the results of this conference?

Yang Wanming:International sister cities are an important channel to enhance people-to-people friendship, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, and promote mutual learning among civilizations. President Xi Jinping attaches great importance to the work of international sister cities, pointing out that international sister city activities have become an important part of bilateral relations between China and relevant countries, emphasizing the need to vigorously carry out international sister city work, promote exchanges between Chinese and foreign local governments, and promote resource sharing and complementary advantages. , win-win cooperation. The China International Sister Cities Conference is co-founded by the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and the China International Sister Cities Federation. It is the largest and highest-level institutional conference related to sister cities in China. In principle, it is held every two years. Since its inception in 2008, it has been held six times in Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Chongqing and Wuhan. The most prominent features of this International Sister Cities Conference can be briefly summarized from several aspects such as time, location, theme, scale and results: In terms of time, due to the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic, the 7th International Sister Cities Conference originally planned to be held in 2020 Postponed so far. In other words, this is the first International Sister Cities Conference since the outbreak. This year also coincides with the 75th anniversary of the National Day and the 70th anniversary of the founding of the China Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, which is of special significance to us. In terms of location, the special location advantages of Yunnan Province and Kunming City and their outstanding achievements in international sister cities are the most important factors for us to choose the venue for the conference. The eighth Greater Mekong Subregion Economic Cooperation Leaders’ Conference was successfully held in Kunming from November 6th to 7th. This conference is also an important event for international sister city work to promote regional economic integration, serve regional economic and social development, and people’s livelihood and well-being. manifestation of function. In addition, gathering friends from all over the world in Spring City in the early winter also means that the cooperation between international sister cities is flourishing and full of vitality. In terms of theme, the theme of this conference is "Sharing, Win-win, and Creating a Future". In addition to the opening ceremony and thematic forum, there are also sessions on "Technological Innovation Helps Build Smart Cities", "Urban Green Development Benefits People's Livelihood and Welfare", "Guarding and Inheriting the City" There are four parallel forums: "Historical and Cultural Roots" and "Transportation Interconnection to Build a Community of Urban Destiny". These are currently issues of widespread concern to the international community and are very attractive to guests from all over the world. A total of nearly 60 Chinese and foreign guests spoke enthusiastically on various occasions at this conference, actively providing suggestions and suggestions for Chinese and foreign local governments to promote exchanges and mutual learning, build consensus on cooperation, enhance people's livelihood and well-being, and achieve mutual benefit and win-win results. In terms of scale, there are 37 provincial and ministerial leaders and 74 mayors and deputy mayors from 41 countries on five continents, including representatives from 66 provinces and states, 125 cities, 63 local government organizations and friendly organizations, as well as experts and scholars. More than 700 people, including business and media representatives, attended this forum. Representatives from the United States, Japan, Australia (Australia), Canada (Canada), New Zealand (New Zealand) and other countries attended the meeting, as well as some foreign local representatives who have not yet established sister cities with China, but have great potential for cooperation and strong willingness. It fully reflects that my country’s international sister cities have wide coverage, strong representativeness and great appeal. In terms of results, this conference signed a total of 16 Chinese and foreign sister-city friendship and cooperation project agreements, and the number of international sister-city pairs in my country has increased to 3,054. Compared with the previous conference in 2018, there were an increase of 483 pairs; in order to further stimulate the enthusiasm of local governments at home and abroad to carry out international sister city exchanges, we selected 20 Chinese provinces and cities that have outstanding performance in carrying out international sister city work and actively carry out friendship projects with China. city ​​exchange and cooperation 40 foreign provinces, states and cities were awarded the "Outstanding Contribution Award for International Sister Cities" and the "Outstanding Partner Award for Friendship Cities with China"; the conference issued a document aimed at calling on sister cities and local governments in various countries to further strengthen solidarity, mutual assistance and deepen exchanges and cooperation. "Kunming Initiative". In addition, through this conference, many partners who had been disconnected due to the epidemic have resumed contact, and many local governments and friendly organizations have established new communication channels. Everyone agreed that this conference was held in a timely manner and was willing to rely on this platform to continuously expand and deepen cooperation.

The Paper:In your opinion, what role do sister city exchanges play in serving local economic and social development? What impact has it had?

Yang Wanming:The Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries shoulders the important responsibility of guiding, coordinating, managing, and serving the establishment and development of sister-city relations between China and foreign countries. Before this conference, Chinese localities had concluded 3,046 pairs of sister provinces, states and sister cities with 602 provinces, states and 1,867 cities in 147 countries, establishing a circle of friends across five continents. For more than half a century, we have joined hands with local governments at all levels in China to actively carry out in-depth exchanges and cooperation with sister cities around the world, and have achieved remarkable and fruitful results.

Exchanges between sister cities build a bridge of friendship between people. Chinese and foreign sister cities actively carry out various friendly exchange activities that are close to the people, such as mutual visits between citizens, cultural performances, sports competitions, youth summer camps, language and culture classes, and border residents’ gatherings, to continuously enhance mutual understanding and friendly feelings between people of various countries. Especially in the face of sudden disasters, Chinese and foreign sister cities supported and helped each other, leaving behind touching scenes of sharing weal and woe.

Exchanges between sister cities have created a direct line for economic and trade cooperation. Chinese and foreign sister cities continue to promote industrial complementarity and resource sharing, carry out distinctive trade and investment activities, build high-level open platforms such as free trade pilot zones, and jointly build cross-border channels, industrial parks, logistics parks, manufacturing bases, and small and medium-sized enterprise cooperation demonstrations District and other projects, we have built a dense economic and trade cooperation network to jointly cultivate new cooperation growth points in the fields of health, green, digital, innovation and other fields, promote mutual industrial integration, development linkage and achievement sharing, and effectively stimulate regional economic growth and build an open world economy. Injected strong power.

Exchanges between sister cities pave the way for happiness that benefits people's livelihood. Chinese and foreign sister cities continue to explore new ways to develop together, implement new cooperation projects to benefit the people, actively share experience and wisdom in areas such as sustainable development, smart cities, digital governance, environmental protection, and response to aging, and jointly improve urban governance capabilities and levels. A series of people's livelihood projects have been carried out in the fields of free health clinics, educational cooperation, vocational training, technology promotion, poverty alleviation and benefiting farmers. A number of brand projects such as Juncao Technical Assistance, Luban Workshop, and Guangming Xing have been continuously promoted with the help of sister city platforms, providing It brings tangible benefits to local people. Sister city exchanges have opened up a new model of regional cooperation. Yunnan is one of the provinces with the most neighboring countries and the longest land border in my country. It is an important window to South Asia and Southeast Asia. This special location advantage is an important reason why Kunming was chosen as the venue for this conference. As one of the important results of this conference, Kunming will jointly launch the "China-Laos Railway Cities Alliance" with relevant domestic and foreign cities along the China-Laos Railway to strengthen the foundation between cities by establishing a dialogue and cooperation mechanism between cities, think tanks, and enterprises. Cooperate in facilities, trade and investment and other fields, and innovate to promote the development of regional economic cooperation.

Build a “circle of friends” and “network of partners” for people-to-people diplomacy

The Paper:What role does the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries play in promoting exchanges and cooperation between China and the people of other countries?

Yang Wanming:People-to-people diplomacy is basic work to enhance people-to-people friendship and promote the development of state-to-state relations. As a national people's organization engaged in people-to-people diplomacy in China, the CPAFFC has been adhering to the purpose of "friendship, cooperation, peace and development" since its establishment 70 years ago, working hard to enhance people-to-people friendship, paving the way and building bridges to promote state-to-state relations, and serving as a lead in promoting international cooperation. , Always walk with the people, the country, and the world.

Over the past seventy years, our association has adhered to its mission of making friends with other countries, established friendly exchanges and cooperation with more than 400 organizations and institutions in more than 150 countries, and coordinated and promoted the establishment of more than 3,000 pairs of sister cities (provinces) between China and more than 140 countries around the world. (state) relations, establish a "circle of friends" and "partner network" across five continents, actively play the role of the main channel for people-to-people diplomacy, and extensively carry out all-round, multi-level, wide-ranging, and three-dimensional non-governmental foreign exchanges.

Over the past seventy years, our association has adhered to the goal of mutual benefit and win-win, coordinated and mobilized various resources such as international sister cities, multinational companies, and friendly organizations, promoted the establishment of various Chinese and foreign local and non-governmental exchange mechanisms, and vigorously promoted economic and trade, education, science and technology, and culture. Practical cooperation in the fields of , ecology, health, poverty alleviation, and human resources training, actively contribute non-governmental efforts to international anti-epidemic cooperation, and strive to make development results better benefit people of all countries. Over the past seventy years, the Association has persisted in using people-to-people exchanges as a carrier, through music, dance, drama, acrobatics and other colorful art forms, to explain Chinese traditional culture to the world and promote exchanges and mutual learning between Chinese and foreign civilizations; it has organized food festivals, dragon boat races, and summer camps Down-to-earth non-governmental exchange activities such as , Celebrations, and Galas strive to increase the participation and sense of gain of people from all over the world, and promote mutual understanding between Chinese and foreign people.

The Paper:The role of the younger generation in sister-city cooperation is becoming more and more important. How does the CPAFFC encourage and support the younger generation from various countries to devote themselves to the cause of Sino-foreign friendship?

Yang Wanming:Youth are the most energetic and enterprising group in society. They are open-minded and active, and are more willing to try new things and accept new perspectives. Youth represent the future and hope, and youth exchanges are a powerful driving force for the development of state-to-state relations. President Xi Jinping has emphasized many times that the future of state-to-state relations lies with young people. During his overseas visit, President Xi Jinping visited universities, middle schools and primary schools many times, exchanged letters and frequently interacted with teachers and students, encouraged young people from all over the world to learn Chinese and understand China, and sowed a large number of seeds of friendship. The story of his old friends in Iowa, USA, which he left behind in his youth, is timeless and widely circulated, leaving a profound inspiration to us.

Since the beginning of this year, President Xi Jinping has sent a congratulatory letter to the "Gulingyuan" China-US Youth Exchange Week, and sent a message to the American youth "Youth Walking" exchange group. President Xi Jinping's wife Peng Liyuan attended the "China-US Friendship Youth Walking" China-US youth cultural and sports networking event, allowing The young people of the two countries feel cordial and inspired, which injects strong impetus into enhancing the friendship between the two peoples.

People-to-people exchanges are an important way for the younger generation to understand each other and establish friendship. Strengthening communication and dialogue among young people from various countries and enhancing understanding and trust will lay a solid public opinion foundation for the development of national relations. We will actively mobilize the resources of sister cities and vigorously carry out exchanges between Chinese and foreign youths. Next year, we will work with relevant Chinese and foreign local governments to jointly organize the "Gulingyuan" China-US youth exchange series, China-Russia Youth Walking the Road of Friendship, China-Japan Friendship Exchange City Junior High School Students Table Tennis Friendship Competition, China-Africa Future Leaders’ dialogue, China-ASEAN Youth Elite Exchange Festival and other institutional activities. It is hoped that various forms of Chinese and foreign youth exchange programs will be carried out more extensively to inject youthful vitality into sister city cooperation, so that the great cause of people-to-people friendship can be passed on from generation to generation and continue to flourish.