Internal working platform of Yunnan Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries

On June 2, at Within the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization People-to-People Friendship Forum initiated by President Xi Jinping, the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries successfully held the "Friendship Cities +" sub-forum in Wuhan. Chairman Lin Songtian, Vice Governor of Hubei Province Zhao Haishan, Mongolian Ambassador to China Baderle, Executive Vice Chairman of the Russian Federation of Friendship Cities Paramonov, Deputy Secretary-General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Zhang Haizhou, relevant officials of the SCO About 150 Chinese and foreign guests from national friendship associations, friendship organizations, sister cities, friendly people and representatives of diplomats stationed in China, as well as relevant Chinese local leaders, heads of friendship associations and foreign affairs offices, research institutions, enterprises and institutions, media representatives, etc. Attend online or offline. Jiang Jiang, vice president of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, presided over the event.

Lin Songtian said in his speech that the establishment of sister city relations with foreign countries is an important aspect of local government's foreign cooperation The starting point is an important manifestation of the transformation of political mutual trust and mutually beneficial economic and trade cooperation between countries into benefits for people's livelihood. With the solid advancement of the "Belt and Road" construction and the vigorous development of urban diplomacy, sister city relations have increasingly become an important window for cities in various countries to open up, an important platform for foreign cooperation, and an important carrier for promoting common development. At the same time, it is also an important test of the degree of local openness. benchmark. In recent years, the breadth and depth of cooperation between Chinese and foreign sister cities have continued to expand, making unique contributions to promoting international cooperation, promoting local economic development, enhancing people's friendship, and consolidating state relations.

Lin Songtian said that the Chinese government attaches great importance to and actively supports exchanges and cooperation with international sister cities. President Xi Jinping pointed out that international friendship city cooperation is not only an important channel for Chinese local governments to communicate and cooperate with foreign countries, but also an important part of China's bilateral relations with relevant countries, which can greatly promote exchanges and cooperation between China and other countries in the world, and enhance the Mutual understanding and friendship with people from all over the world. So far, China has established more than 2,800 pairs of sister city relations with more than 130 countries on five continents, among which 397 pairs of sister provinces and cities have been established with SCO countries, which has promoted friendly exchanges and mutually beneficial cooperation between Chinese and foreign cities .

Lin Songtian said that the SCO is committed to achieving win-win cooperation and common development among all countries, and it needs to take root in sister cities, rely on sister cities, and benefit sister cities. China is willing to uphold the principles of "friendship and mutual trust, equality and mutual benefit, exchanges and mutual learning, and common development", align development strategies with all parties, identify cooperative partners, expand communication areas, promote complementary advantages, and achieve precise alignment and sustainable development of sister city cooperation , strive to transform the SCO's political mutual trust, security mutual assistance, and economic and trade mutual benefits into tangible benefits that the people of their respective countries can see, touch, and feel, and further enhance the sense of gain, security, and identity of the people of the SCO countries.

Lin Songtian said that in order to promote the cooperation of sister cities to develop in an all-round, multi-field and high-quality way. China is willing to work with all parties to focus on the following four aspects of work: first, to promote personnel exchanges and expand the foundation of friendship; second, to deepen mutually beneficial cooperation and promote common development; The third is to strengthen cultural exchanges and promote people-to-people bonds;The fourth is to share governance experience and promote the modernization of urban governance systems and governance capabilities.

Vice Governor Zhao Haishan said that the prospects for cooperation among SCO countries are broad, and sister city cooperation, as an important part of exchanges between SCO countries, has huge potential Development potential. I sincerely hope to continue to deepen exchanges and cooperation with other countries, consolidate the established relationship between sister provinces, states and cities, expand the scale of cooperation between sister cities, and create a brand of cooperation between sister cities.

In their speeches, the foreign guests unanimously appreciated and thanked the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries for building a new platform for SCO countries to strengthen friendship, seek cooperation and promote development. . They agreed that standing at the new starting point of the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the SCO, all parties to the SCO will adhere to the new concept of establishing deep friendship, promoting common development, and improving the well-being of the people, and combine the development strategies, development space, and development opportunities of all parties. Integration is committed to complementary advantages, mutual benefit and win-win results, providing support, injecting vitality, and enhancing motivation for promoting economic and social development and improving people's living standards in the region.

Representatives of Chinese and foreign cities conducted in-depth dialogues and exchanges around the theme of "promoting sister city cooperation with high quality". It has made important contributions to the development of state relations, actively shared advanced concepts and practical experience in the construction of sister cities, and offered suggestions for deepening and practical cooperation between international sister cities under the new situation. They agreed that they will seize new opportunities, go hand in hand, deepen cooperation between sister cities, maintain regional stability, and jointly seek peaceful development, so as to bring a greater sense of gain, happiness, and security to the people of the SCO countries.

At the sub-forum, Changning District of Shanghai and Minsk Soviet District of Belarus, Chongzuo City of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Rybinsk City of Russia signed friendship city agreements. Suifenhe City, Heilongjiang Province signed a friendship agreement with Russia's Pogranic Nei district.