Internal working platform of Yunnan Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries

November 18

2024 China International Sister Cities Conference

Opened in Kunming

On November 18, the 2024 China International Friendly Cities Conference opened in Kunming. Photo by Lei Tongsu and Zhou Can.

At the opening ceremony

Introduced by Provincial Party Secretary Wang Ning

Yunnan

Rich in history, ecologically livable, and abundant in resources.

Home to 26 ethnic groups

Since ancient times, China has faced South and Southeast Asia.

Frontiers and Windows of Exchange and Cooperation

The Southern Silk Road and the Tea Horse Road echo the resounding call of openness in the majestic mountains.

Over 2,000 years ago, the Yunnanese "Ma gangs" (horse caravans) used tea as a medium to forge the world-famous Tea Horse Road, opening up the Southern Silk Road. As an important component of the ancient Southern Silk Road, Yunnan is one of the oldest international commercial trade routes in China connecting to Southeast Asia, South Asia, West Asia, and even Europe.

Over 600 years ago, the Yunnan navigator Zheng He led a fleet on seven voyages to the West, leaving his footprints in more than 30 countries and regions across Asia and Africa. He not only wrote a brilliant page in the history of world navigation but also made an indelible contribution to enhancing friendship between China and Southeast Asian countries, a story of mutual learning and exchange of civilizations that continues to this day.

Malacca Zheng He Cultural Centre. Photo by Li Wenjun.

From the remote frontiers to the open frontiers, the pulse of the times intertwines across the land of Yunling.

Yunnan has accelerated the pace of building international corridors for connectivity with neighboring countries and achieved positive results. The "seven-out-of-province and five-out-of-country" highway main corridor centered on Kunming has basically taken shape, the "eight-out-of-province and five-out-of-country" railway corridor construction is accelerating, the layout of the air transport corridor facing South Asia and Southeast Asia is gradually taking shape, and the water transport "two-out-of-province and three-out-of-country" corridor is being rapidly built. The international transport corridor is steadily advancing, providing strong support for Yunnan to build a radiation center facing South Asia and Southeast Asia.

International sister cities are an important vehicle and witness for Yunnan in building a new pattern of opening up to the outside world. In November 1981, Kunming City and Fujisawa City, Japan, established the first pair of international sister cities in Yunnan Province, marking the beginning of the work on international sister cities in Yunnan.

Over the past 40 years, Yunnan has established 112 pairs of friendly relations with provinces, states, and cities in 37 countries across five continents, achieving fruitful cooperation results in fields such as economy and trade, education, health, culture, and tourism.

Hearts are close, minds are connected.YunnanActively explore new models based on multi-point interactions with international friendly cities and villages, and jointly organize a series of "Border People's Grand Carnival" events with Myanmar, Vietnam, and Laos through a joint mechanism, transforming it into a new brand of people-to-people diplomacy for cultural integration and mutual understanding in Yunnan's border regions, as well as a new platform to promote opening up along the border.

As of June this year, a total of 7 Border-People's Congress Gala events have been held, with cumulative participation exceeding 200,000 people, facilitating the signing of over 50 agreements in fields such as culture, economy and trade, people's livelihood, and friendly relations. Meanwhile, since 2022, over 140 people's livelihood public welfare projects have been implemented in the surrounding areas under the "Heart-to-Heart, Yunnan Journey" initiative, benefiting approximately 4 million people, thereby enriching the practical cooperation between friendly cities at all levels.

Colorful Yunnan, open, inclusive, and diverse. "A way of life called Yunnan" belongs to Yunnan, and also to the world.

Yunnan has a platform for mutual cooperation.

Openness is a distinct hallmark of Chinese modernization. Today, Yunnan, aiming to build a new high-level system of opening up, is becoming a key link in the domestic market of 1.4 billion people and the emerging market of South and Southeast Asia with 2.5 billion people.

Yunnan is deeply engaging with the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), actively serving and integrating into the Myanmar-China-India-Thailand economic corridor, the China-Indochina Peninsula economic corridor, the China-Laos and China-Myanmar economic corridors, the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation, and other bilateral and regional cooperation mechanisms. It is actively promoting the construction of bilateral cooperation mechanisms such as Yunnan-Northern Laos, Yunnan-Five Northern Provinces of Vietnam, and Yunnan-Mandalay, and has established more than 12 bilateral cooperation mechanisms with 9 countries.

Currently, the province has formed a "1+3+4+N" port development layout, with the Kunming International Hub Port at its core, the Mohan, Hekou, and Ruili key hub ports as leaders, and the Qingshuihe, Houqiao, Tianbao, and Guanlei ports as logistics node ports providing support, while other ordinary ports and border civilian channels develop in coordination. The port capacity, driving force, and radiation effect are continuously improving.

Today, more and more foreign friends are coming from all directions to "the cloud".

Cultural exchange activities such as "Perceiving China, Beautiful Yunnan", "Cross-border Spring Festival Gala", and "Beautiful China, Colorful Yunnan" continue to be held, while sports events like the "Belt and Road - Colorful Yunnan" car rally are spectacular. The successful hosting of major events including the China International Expo, the China International Travel Fair, the Tengchong Scientists Forum, and the Global Chinese Businessmen Gathering in Yunnan has further enhanced Yunnan's influence in opening up to the outside world.

In 2022, the International Communication Center for the South Asia and Southeast Asia Region of Yunnan Province was officially established, opening a new window for friends from all countries to understand China. Through the exchange of beautiful scenery, delicious food, and culture, Yunnan has frequently shaken hands with the world.

Yunnan is willing to visit its friends' cities frequently, like "visiting relatives," to support the exchange of officials, scholars, youth, and civil society organizations. It will deepen exchanges in fields such as culture and arts, broadcasting and television, education and scientific research, and historical heritage protection, building more "bridges of connection" to connect hearts and minds, and allowing the tree of friendship to grow even more lush and vibrant.

Yunnan is willing to work with all friends to strengthen cooperation in science and technology, industry, ports, customs clearance, logistics, and tourism; support universities, scientific research institutions, and enterprises in conducting joint research; encourage strengthening bidirectional investment and expanding trade scale; build mutually beneficial industrial and supply chains; jointly cultivate and develop new drivers, and share new opportunities for open development.

Yunnan is willing to join hands with all its friends to strengthen experience exchanges, learn from each other in areas such as poverty alleviation, ethnic unity, urban planning, rural governance, the digital economy, and green and low-carbon development. We will advance together on the path of modernization, transforming long-term stable friendly relations and partnerships into development achievements that benefit the people of our friend cities, thereby creating a better life.