Hunan expands global sister-city network at international event

During the event, Hunan signed a provincial-level cooperation roadmap with Belarus' Mogilev Region and established intended sister-city partnerships with Pakistan's Sindh Province, Uzbekistan's Bukhara Region, Vanuatu's Shefa Province, and the Dominican Republic's Hermanas Mirabal Province. At the municipal level, Hengyang signed a friendship exchange plan with Bobruisk in Belarus, while Changsha formed intended partnerships with Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia and Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan. Loudi also partnered with Gujrat in Pakistan.

In his speech, Lu Xiangdong, vice-president of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, emphasized that international sister-city relations are crucial for deepening mutual understanding, fostering practical cooperation, and promoting cultural exchanges.

According to Lu, China now has 3,187 sister-city pairs linking its provinces and cities with 153 countries, with Hunan establishing 120 such partnerships across Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas.

Lu also highlighted Hunan's strengths in engineering machinery, rail transit, new energy, digital economy, and modern agriculture.

"We hope friends from around the world will explore more avenues for cooperation with Hunan in trade and investment, industrial innovation, green development, and rural revitalization, so that the fruits of our sister-city cooperation can benefit more people and add lasting momentum to shared prosperity," he added.