Guangzhou Special: Global cities share dreams for the future

The 2014 China International Friendship Cities Conference and the second Guangzhou International Urban Innovation Conference opened in the capital of Guangdong province on Friday, with more than 600 distinguished guests from 56 countries and regions gathering to share their visions for closer, more extensive international cooperation between cities.

Nearly 500 Chinese cities have established 2,154 pairs of sister cities with foreign counterparts since 1973 when the northern China metropolis Tianjin formed the country's first ever such relationship with Kobe in Japan.

"The interaction between Chinese cities and their sister cities in the past 40-odd years has become an important part of China's friendly communication with other countries and enhanced mutual understanding," Chen Changzhi, vice-chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, said at the opening ceremony.