Xiamen delegation to Wellington has business focus
20 November 2014
Xiamen delegation to Wellington has business focus
Stronger business, education and cultural ties with our Chinese partners will be the focus when a 20-strong government and business delegation led by Xiamen Mayor Mr Liu Keqing which visits Wellington tomorrow (Friday) and Saturday as part of the Chinese President’s visit to New Zealand.
A highlight of the visit is the signing of a memorandum of understanding by Wellington Mayor Celia Wade-Brown and Mayor Liu Keqing, expanding opportunities between the cities in civic administration, education and business, and several business-to-business trade deals.
“Wellington and Xiamen have been sister cities for 27 years with an active programme of cultural and educational exchanges. This visit will help to further cement this long-standing relationship and move to more emphasis on economic outcomes,” says Mayor Wade-Brown.
Among the delegation’s activities
during the visit:
• English teachers from Xiamen will
undertake teacher training at Whitireia
• Doctors from
Xiamen will participate in a training session at Wellington
Hospital and at Otago University’s Wellington
facility.
The Xiamen Mayor will also give a speech and present certificates to 20 Mandarin language assistants at the Picnic Café at the Botanic Garden on Saturdayafternoon. They have been Chinese language and cultural ambassaors for Xiamen in over 40 schools in Wellington and the lower Noth Island, they will be completing their assignments later this year.
“Wellington hugely values the contributions of the Mandarin language assistants to the future competency of our young people,” says Mayor Wade-Brown.
Visiting Xiamen
businesspeople include:
• Mr. He Fulong
Chairman,
Xiamen ITG Group Co., Ltd.
• Mr. Li Yunshan
Vice
President, Xiamen ITG Group Co., Ltd.
• Mr. Yang
XiaoJian
General Manager, Xiamen Seashine Group Co.
Ltd.
• Mr. Zhang YaHui
General Manager, Xiamen
Aquatic Product Group Co. Ltd.
• Mrs. Luo
Shiling
Vice President, Xiamen C&D International Travel
Service Group Co. Ltd .
• Mr. Chen Yanghai
Chairman,
Fujian Zexiang Group Co. Ltd.
• Mr. Liu
Hong
Chairman, Tutti Exhibition Service (Xiamen) Co.
Ltd.
Among business deals to be signed during their New
Zealand visit:
• ITG will import logs from Rayonier NZ
Ltd.
• Seashine purchases NZ honey from All Natural
Products
• Seashine imports timber and wood from TPT
Forests Limited
The Wellington-based Gibson Group is also currently working on a Xiamen Museum project.
Wellington Xiamen
Association
The WXA was established in 1998 to
support and grow the Wellington-Xiamen sister-city
relationship. Wellington City Council provides the WXA with
an annual grant. WXA has an active schedule of exchanges
with Xiamen, including an artist exchange, an annual
barbecue for Xiamen students who live in Wellington, and a
student exchange. WXA won the award for the
Wellington-Xiamen Paediatric project at the 2012 Sister
Cities Conference.
Xiamen City
Xiamen,
on the south-eastern coast of China, has a population of
about 3.67 million. Xiamen was one of the first four special
economic zones in China. It is one of the few municipalities
enjoying independent status in state economic planning.
Xiamen enjoys provincial level autonomy and local
legislative power in economic administration. Xiamen ranked
first in terms of sustainable urban development among 35
Chinese cities, according to a report released by the
Institute of Urban Environment of Chinese Academy of
Sciences in 2010.
Mayoral delegations to
Xiamen
Wellington mayoral delegations visited
Xiamen in 2011 and 2012, which saw the establishment of a
Wellington Garden and Wellington Avenue. A ‘Wellington’
corner of the Xiamen Library has been dedicated to New
Zealand books, videos and a
display.
ENDS