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GUANGZHOU – The Province of British Columbia and the People’s Government of Guangdong Province have committed to strengthening their relationship by encouraging their respective local governments to establish twinning arrangements, said Ida Chong, Minister of Community Services.
“This agreement offers us the opportunity to enhance our relationship, to share our experiences and to build stronger economic ties,” said Chong. “Local government has an important role to play in twinning with our Chinese partners in the People’s Government of Guangdong Province for mutual learning and economic benefit. Twinning opens vast opportunities for us to exchange experiences and learn from each other.”
The two provinces established a sister-province relationship on Sept. 7, 1995, committing to co-operation in economic, cultural, trade and technology, education, sports, public health, personnel and other areas. In 2005, Premier Gordon Campbell welcomed a delegation from the People’s Government of Guangdong Province to the legislature to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the sister-province relationship.
The two provinces have collaborated on a range of activities, including conducting educational exchanges, jointly developing health responses to infectious diseases, and collaborating on environmental sustainability issues. The new agreement will commit B.C. and Guangdong to work with their local governments to establish successful twinning relationships that promote economic and cultural opportunities.
“The ever expanding co-operation between the Province of Guangdong and the Province of British Columbia in various areas underlies the importance of promoting twinnings between cities of the two provinces,” said Mr. Fu Lang, Director General of Foreign Affairs, People’s Government of Guangdong Province. “The partnerships will facilitate high-level exchanges between the city governments, create more opportunities and new channels for co-operation, and further enhance the mutual understanding and friendship between people of the two provinces and two countries at large.”
There are several twinning relationships between communities in both provinces. The City of Vancouver has a twinning relationship with the City of Guangzhou. The City of Surrey has a twinning relationship with Zhuhai, located in the Pearl River Delta on the southern coast of the Province of Guangdong. Earlier this summer, the Burnaby Board of Trade signed an economic development agreement with Zhuhai as well.
Located on the
south coast, with more than 80 million permanent residents, Guangdong is one of
the most populous and prosperous provinces in the People’s Republic of China. The economy is driven by a variety of
industries, including electronics, appliances, machinery, agriculture, and
textiles.
To support local governments in B.C., this
September, the Province released a new twinning tool kit to help
communities build relationships, strengthen local economies and develop cultural
ties with Asian communities. More information about the tool kit and stories
about successful twinnings are at www.bcasiatwinnings.gov.bc.ca.
Twinning is a key element in British
Columbia’s Asia Pacific Initiative, a
long-term strategy to diversify economic ties with the Asia-Pacific. The Province’s goal – to position B.C. as the pre-eminent
economic and cultural crossroads between Asia and North America – could benefit
the province by as much as $76 billion in increased trade and 255,000 jobs by
2020.
Photos of the signing ceremony in Guangzhou
are available at: http://www.cserv.gov.bc.ca/china/
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Ministry of Community Services 250 356-6334 |
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For more information on government services or to subscribe to the Province’s news feeds using RSS, visit the Province’s website at www.gov.bc.ca. |
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