Officials from sister cities view CIIE as a catalyst for deepening of relations

Foreign officials lauded the ongoing China International Import Expo as a platform that could foster deeper cooperation between cities in their nations and those in China during a forum held in downtown Shanghai on Nov 5, the first day of the trade extravaganza.

Co-organized by the Foreign Affairs Office of the Shanghai Municipal People's Government, the Shanghai People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and the Shanghai Institute for International Studies, the 2019 CIIE Sister Cities Cooperation Forum discussed about the benefits of the CIIE and how sister cities could benefit from the trade fair.

Attending the forum was a host of officials from home and abroad, including the deputy mayor of Liverpool Gary Millar, the president of the Shanghai Federation of Social Science Associations Wang Zhan and the director of the San Francisco Mayor's Office of Global Engagement Mark Chandler.

"The CIIE is a very significant event that illustrates China's commitment to economic globalization and opening-up. Projects such as the Belt and Road Initiative and the CIIE have shown the world that China is eager to open itself and embrace the world," said Wang.

"Sister cities have always been helpful to a nation's development. For example, we have learned about high-speed rail systems from our Japanese sister cities and about banking from San Francisco. The CIIE can be a new platform to promote even greater cooperation between Chinese cities and their sister cities as it brings everyone together."

Millar described the CIIE as an invaluable "storytelling platform" for foreign cities like Liverpool which people often know little about except for its major products or brands.

"The CIIE is about allowing each sister city to come and tell the Chinese what their strengths are and what they could be. The city of Liverpool is not just about The Beatles and Liverpool Football Club. That's just the start of the story," he said, before pointing out that the English city is also known for its port and growing technology scene.

"We have also spent £600 million using Chinese technology to build the largest seaport on the west of the United Kingdom. This port allows ships from Latin America and Asia to travel to other parts of the world without having to go through most of Europe, which makes their journeys faster and cheaper."

According to Miller, Liverpool has enjoyed strong relations with Shanghai for 20 years. In April, a trade delegation from Liverpool penned a Memorandum of Understanding and created 45 potential deals worth £139 million with their Shanghai counterparts.

Miller also said that Shanghai could learn from its famous soccer team Liverpool FC, which has won six European Cups, the most out of all English clubs.

Sports exchange as part as sister city relations was also something that Chandler addressed, referring to how some NBA games have been played in China in recent years.

NBA team Golden State Warriors, which hails from San Francisco, was in September named the most popular NBA team in China in a study by Mailman Group. The Warriors had in 2017 played two preseason games in Shenzhen and Shanghai.

"Sports is something everyone shares. Sports transcends cultures and borders and political philosophies. It creates friendships and good times together. Sports is a new avenue of international collaboration. The NBA organizing games in China and other parts of the world is a great example of this," he said.

Chandler then stressed that sister city ties have to be multifaceted and not merely revolve around business or academic exchange. He pointed out the relationship between Shanghai and San Francisco is probably the latter's most successful out of all its other sister cities because the two have collaborations across multiple industries.

According to Chandler, the two cities have worked on 300 projects since relations were established nearly 40 years ago.

"If you come to San Francisco to watch ballet, the principal dancer with the San Francisco Ballet is Tan Yuanyuan, a daughter of Shanghai. If you come to our Asian Art Museum, the curator is from Shanghai and was trained by the Shanghai Museum," he said.

"In terms of construction, the second tallest building in our city is being built by a Shanghai investor. Here in Shanghai, along the Bund, some of tallest buildings were designed by San Francisco architects. It is only through our sister city projects that these things are possible."

Chandler also shared that his city's chamber of commerce, which was the only US non-profit involved in the CIIE last year, is back for the expo this year with a booth that is twice as large featuring more than 25 companies from the city.

"There are some common challenges in which San Francisco and Shanghai can work together on, such as those related to the environment, sustainability and renewable energy," he said.

"CIIE is going to showcase many of the companies in San Francisco and from all over the world that are coming up with solutions to these issues. It is only by sharing our best practices and learning what's happening around the world that we can all benefit. CIIE is a great vehicle for the sharing of knowledge and hopefully that leads to great economic development for everyone."