The Seventh China-U.S. Sister Cities Conference was held on October 25-27 in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang Province, under the theme Closer Partnership for a Sustainable Future. Over 180 representatives from 36 counties and cities in 28 U.S. states, alongside delegates from 26 provinces, regions and municipalities in China, gathered to explore new opportunities for local collaboration and to strengthen the friendship between the peoples of China and the U.S.
This year, jointly organized by the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC) and the People’s Government of Zhejiang Province, the conference has, since its inception in 2014, become a key mechanism for promoting China-U.S. subnational exchanges.
Links across the Pacific
Hangzhou holds a special place in the history of China-U.S. relations. In February 1972, Hangzhou was the second stop of U.S. President Richard Nixon’s historic visit to China. While in the city, Premier Zhou Enlai and Nixon discussed the details of the joint communiqué and signed its draft version. The final document, later signed in Shanghai and known as the Shanghai Communique, laid the foundation for the normalization of relations between China and the U.S.
In 1979, Hubei Province and the State of Ohio, as well as Nanjing, Jiangsu Province and St. Louis, Missouri, established the first sister province/state and sister city relationships between the two countries, marking the formal beginning of China-U.S. local cooperation.
Today, there are 288 sister relationships between Chinese and American provinces/states and cities, yielding results that benefit both peoples. Hangzhou, an important window of China’s openness, has established sister city ties with Boston, Massachusetts, and Indianapolis, Indiana. Since forming its partnership with Boston in 1982, the two cities have deepened cooperation in cultural exchange, education, economic development, urban planning and youth programs. In 2022, Boston declared May 1 as Boston-Hangzhou Day to honor this enduring friendship.
The conference featured themed forums on educational exchange, urban innovation, sustainable development and case studies of sister city cooperation. Cultural events, including a performance by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and the live show Impression West Lake, reflected the shared commitment to enhancing understanding through culture, building the future through education and driving cooperation through innovation.
In his opening remarks, Yang Wanming, President of the CPAFFC, emphasized that fostering friendship between the Chinese and American peoples is a great undertaking that draws strength from local communities.
“Every city and every individual is a participant in and contributor to China-U.S. relations,” Yang said. “The future of our bilateral ties must be built together, step by step, by our peoples.”
He acknowledged the complex challenges facing China-U.S. relations in recent years but stressed that the more difficult the situation becomes, the more vital it is for sister cities to strengthen communication, mutual trust and cooperation.
In a video address, Xie Feng, Chinese Ambassador to the U.S., described local cooperation as an important pillar of the bilateral relationship. He offered three proposals: promote mutual understanding and respect to deepen friendship between the two peoples; consolidate foundations to help stabilize and improve China-U.S. relations; and focus on cooperation to build a sustainable future for both nations.
“The gentle waves of Hangzhou’s West Lake and the surging tides of its Qiantang River,” Xie said poetically, “symbolize sister city relations of two countries, both enduring in warmth and dynamic in vitality.”
A constant driving force
Robert Wagner, President of the Oregon State Senate, noted that his was the highest level delegation to visit China since the pandemic, including bipartisan legislators, business leaders and representatives from health and education sectors.
He recalled that in 1984, Oregon established one of the first sister-state relationships with Fujian Province. In 2006, the Oregon legislature created the Oregon-China Sister State Committee, the first such legal body in a U.S. state. On June 3 this year, Oregon reaffirmed this vision through the adoption of a Senate Concurrent Resolution, reaffirming its commitment to strengthening ties with China.
“Its purpose is clear: to ensure that Oregon’s sister state relationship is nurtured, respected and carried forward for many future generations. It’s not enough to just forge these relationships. We must maintain and ensure that they endure,” Wagner said in his address at the opening of the conference. “When our states and cities see each other not just as trading partners but as neighbors and friends, our relationship will truly thrive.”
Wagner and his delegation spent 15 days traveling across nine Chinese cities, taking in the country’s diversity and dynamism. It was his first visit to China, and as he told Beijing Review in an exclusive interview on October 27, he “came in sort of as a blank slate,” but left with impressions that were “very rich.” The experience, he said, inspired him to encourage people back home to travel more and embrace different cultures.
“The important thing for Oregon and our delegation being here in China is to let people know that we want to build a relationship for the long term,” Wagner said. “We want people in China to know that Oregon is eager to be a good partner in many different ways.”
Victoria Woodards, Mayor of Tacoma, Washington, shared the 30-year friendship story between Tacoma and Fuzhou in Fujian Province. From cultural exchanges to student visits, she said the partnership has benefited countless young people.
She recalled President Xi Jinping’s 2015 visit to Tacoma, during which he invited 100 local students to visit China, an experience she said “changed many lives of students in Tacoma.”
“We look forward to the next generation of students, entrepreneurs and leaders who will carry these relationships forward. We want them to see the world not as divided by oceans, but as connected by shared opportunity,” Woodards said in her address.
At the closing ceremony of the conference, Chinese and American guests witnessed the signing of nine cooperative projects spanning sister-city partnerships, business collaboration and educational exchange.
During the event, Shen Xin, Vice President of CPAFFC, shared one of four congratulatory letters received earlier that morning, which jointly signed by councilmember Lisa Kaplan and Kevin McCarty, mayor of Sacramento, capital city of the state of California.
The message highlighted the 40-year sister-city relationship between Sacramento and Jinan, capital of Shandong Province, describing it as a model of enduring friendship and cooperation between China and California. Sacramento, they wrote, would continue to uphold the principles of mutual respect and mutual benefit, deepen collaboration with its Chinese sister cities and work together toward shared goals of peace, stability and prosperity.
“Today’s in-depth discussions have helped us chart a path of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation among sister cities,” Shen said in his address. “The agreements signed today strengthen the powerful synergy of China-U.S. local collaboration, contributing to deeper friendship between our peoples and to the broader development of China-U.S. relations.”
The conference also released the Hangzhou Consensus, a call for people from all walks of life in both countries to actively support and participate in sister-city cooperation, especially in challenging times. The consensus encourages deeper collaboration in culture, education and youth engagement, fostering a stable, healthy and sustainable future for China-U.S. relations. –The Daily Mail-Beijing Review news exchange item
