Dongying deepens ties with international estuarine cities

Dongying, Shandong province, which is located where the Yellow River flows into the Bohai sea, has been promoting cooperation with estuarine cities around the world.

The Yellow River Estuary International Friendly Cities Conference for Dialogue and Exchange, which was held in the city on May 15, provided a platform for international estuarine cities to deepen mutual understanding and seek cooperation in high-quality development.

Representatives from estuarine cities such as Gabon's Libreville, Italy's Livorno, Japan's Niigata, and China's Yingkou, showcased economic, cultural and ecological resources and discussed expectations for mutual cooperation at the conference. The event also saw Dongying authorities signing a memorandum with Libreville and inking a letter of intent with Livorno to establish cooperative ties.

"Dongying is an open highland full of development vitality," said Chen Bichang, mayor of Dongying. "The city has established economic and trade relations with 214 countries and regions around the world and is ranked the 31st among China's top 100 foreign trade cities."

The city has in recent years focused on expanding opening-up. It established friendly relations with more than 40 cities around the world and carried out extensive exchanges and cooperation in economy, trade, culture, education and sports.

Chen hopes that Dongying will strengthen cooperation in industrial and economic fields with estuarine cities at home and abroad, promote wetland ecological protection, and seek to deepen cultural exchange after the conference.

Dongying and Libreville are expected to continue to strengthen communication, deepen friendly exchanges and expand practical cooperation to jointly achieve mutual benefits and win-win results, said Christine Mba Ndutume, mayor of Libreville.