German-Chinese friendship cities look to new opportunities for beneficial cooperation

Zhang Ji

O n June 15， a German-Chinese forum on friendship cities was held online. Hosted by the Chinese Peoples Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries， the forum was themed“Green environment and digitization： New dynamic of mutually beneficial cooperation between German-Chinese friendship cities”. CPAFFC President Lin Songtian attended the online opening ceremony and delivered a speech， as did CPAFFC Vice-President Yan Dong； Chinese Ambassador to Germany Wu Ken； Vice-Governor of Shandong province Ling Wen； Frank Ruckert， charge daffaires of the German embassy in China； State Minister of Bavaria Melanie Huml； and Edeltraud Klabuhn， first deputy mayor of Duisburg. The president of the Sino-German Friendship Association and former Chinese ambassador to Germany， Shi Mingde， and VicePresident of the Federation of GermanChinese Friendship Associations Jurgen Eberbach made remarks at the closing ceremony.

Representatives of local governments， legislative bodies and foreign affairs offices from eight pairs of friendship states/provinces and three pairs of friendship cities of the two countries delivered speeches， including Guo Ningning， executive vice-governor of Fujian； Zhao Haishan， vice-governor of Hubei； Zhang Xin， vice-governor of Guangdong； Mo Gongming， deputy director-general of the Chongqing Municipal Peoples Congress； Heike Raab， state secretary of Rheinland-Pfalz； Bernd Buchholz， minister of economy of Schleswig-Holstein； Stephan Keller， mayor of Düsseldorf； Corinna Nienstedt， head of the State Office of Hamburg； Michael Jacke， mayor of Minden； and Bernhard Weber， chief representative of Baden-Württemberg in China.

CEOs and representatives of 16 enterprises from China and Germany， including BMW， Volkswagen， SAP， Shandong Heavy Industry， iFLYTEK， H3C and Alibaba Cloud， made online or video keynote speeches. In their speeches， they discussed the fruits and opportunities of mutually beneficial bilateral cooperation. More than 300 people from all walks of life in China and Germany attended the online activity.

Lin noted that this year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of Sino-German relations. Fifty years ago， he said， leaders of the two countries， with political wisdom and farsightedness， advanced bilateral diplomatic relations.

“In the new century， bilateral relations made a triple jump with the establishment of a comprehensive strategic partnership，” Lin said.

He remarked that the past 50 years of Sino-German and Sino-European exchanges demonstrate that as each others most important trading partner， its in the interest of both China and Germany， as well as Europe at large， to pursue mutually beneficial results， deeply integrate development interests， safeguard and advance sound and stable bilateral relations and strongly safeguard each others strategic independence.

History and reality also show clearly that the West and the East can co-exist peacefully for win-win results and common development as long as they can show mutual respect， seek common ground while shelving differences， and pursue mutually beneficial cooperation on equal footing.

Lin spoke highly of the role of friendship cities （state/province） in forging a strong bond of people-to-peo- ple friendship between the two countries.

He said the CPAFFC would like to carry out the important consensus reached by the state leaders of the two countries to build more platforms for friendly exchanges and mutually beneficial cooperation between local governments， friendship cites and enterprises.

In this way， he believes， we can better benefit the two countries and the two people by deepening people-topeople exchanges and cooperation in the fields of culture， education， tourism， think tanks， media outlets and youth； consolidating mutual understanding， friendship and trust between the two people； and advancing mutually beneficial cooperation in the transition into green， low-carbon and innovationoriented development， new energy， new infrastructural development， digital economy， platform economy and city governance.

Wu Ken， Chinese ambassador to Germany， said the past 50 years have seen successful German-Chinese relations featuring common development and win-win results. Despite differences in historical and cultural backgrounds， political systems， and levels of development， the two sides， with no fundamental conflicts of interest， have far more common interests than differences. Subnational cooperation has always served as an essential driving force for enhancing bilateral relations. With much in common between Chinas 14th Five Year Plan and Germanys transition to green energy and digitization， there are new opportunities for cooperation and bright prospects for subnational cooperation.

Shandong provinces Vice-Governor Ling Wen said the province had been deepening commercial cooperation with Germany in recent years as the latter had become its biggest trading partner in EU. Mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields， including high-end manufacturing， information technology， new energy， biomedicine and business is being deepened and advanced.

The past 35 years of friendship state/province relations between Shandong and Bavaria witnessed close and fruitful bilateral cooperation， Ling said， adding that in the future Shandong is going to promote cooperation with German partners on key industries， continue to enlarge the size of mutual investments and facilitate mutual understanding and amity between the two peoples.

State minister of Bavaria Melanie Huml said this event offered brilliant opportunities to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Germany and China. Bavaria， which enjoys a long history of friendship with China， values China as its most important trading partner in the world. A total of 1，500 companies in Bavaria have business contacts with Chinese counterparts. Many Chinese companies have made successful in-vestments in Bavaria.

“We follow closely Chinas successful reform and opening-up， and recognize its rapid development，”Humal said. “Whats more， we value the sister state/province relations between Bavaria and Shandong as well as Guangdong， and are looking forward to more mutually beneficial cooperation on climate change and new energy technology with our Chinese partners.”

Frank Ruckert， charge daffaires of the German embassy in China， said that the past 50 years saw mutual learning and understanding between the two peoples. Both countries are dedicated to combating climate change and developing their own economies. The local governments of the two countries will play important roles in realizing transformation into renewable energy and digitization.

Edeltraud Klabuhn， first deputy mayor of Duisburg， said that Duisburg and Wuhan became the first GermanChinese friendship relationship in 1982， and this year marks its 40th anniversary. As the largest base of steel in Europe and an important inland port， Duisburg is speeding up its transformation from an industrial city into a largescale ecological park and expecting further cooperation with Wuhan in new energy and smart logistics.

At the subforums themed “Green cooperation” and “Cooperation on digitization”， representatives of GermanChinese sister cities （provinces/states） recalled their friendly exchanges with each other， reviewed the fruits of contact and looked forward to opportunities for cooperation.

They spoke highly of the role of cooperation between friendship cities（province/state） to facilitate people-topeople friendship， economic and trade cooperation and mutual learning between civilizations.

Further， they applauded the efforts made by the CPAFFC in deepening bilateral people-to-people friendship and cooperation. They are looking forward to more mutually beneficial cooperation on green and low-carbon development and digitization so that more contributions can be made on tackling climate change， public health crises and advancing collaboration on multilater- alism and global governance.

Representatives of German business circles are optimistic about the great potential brought by the vast market in China and confident about doing business in China for the long term.

The German-Chinese Forum on Friendship Cities is one of the activities conducted in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Germany and China. Local governments and enterprises from both sides actively participated in the forum， which enjoyed wide coverage from multiple media outlets， displaying the common aspiration of the two peoples to be engaged in friendly and mutually beneficial cooperation.