Special Sister City Recognition for Dunedin

Dunedin (Monday, 1 December 2014) – Dunedin’s sister city relationship with Shanghai has been given special recognition at an awards ceremony in China.

As part of the 2014 International Friendship Cities Conference held in Guangzhou last week, Dunedin was one of three cities with sister city relationships with Shanghai to receive a sister city exchange and co-operation award from Shanghai. The other two cities were San Francisco and Hamburg.

Dunedin City Council Chief Executive Officer Dr Sue Bidrose, who attended the conference, says China has 2155 sister cities and Dunedin was one of 81 cities and provinces from around the world which were given awards for their outstanding contributions to their sister city relationships.

“It was great honour to accept the award on Saturday on behalf of Dunedin.

“We really value our relationship with Shanghai, which continues to grow and strengthen to the benefit of both cities.

“To receive this formal acknowledgement from Shanghai, which has more than 70 sister cities, is very significant. The fact that the award has been given in the same year as we celebrate a 20-year relationship between our two cities makes it even more special.”

Dunedin was the one city invited to speak at the awards ceremony and Dr Bidrose spoke to about 750 people, including international leaders, senior politicians, former heads of state and dozens of mayors.

In her speech, Dr Bidrose talked about Dunedin’s Chinese history, which dates back to the 1860s, and the development of the Dunedin Chinese Garden, which is the epitome of what the sister city relationship with Shanghai means to the city. She emphasised we are now able to focus through our Economic Development Strategy on a platform for business to be done with no barriers.

In recognition of the award, Dunedin was given a plaque and a certificate of honour.

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