Dunedin’s close sister city relationship with Shanghai has been reaffirmed, with the renewal of four significant Memorandums of Understanding (MoU).

Senior officials from both cities attended the virtual signing event, which covered the overall sister city agreement in place since 1994, the ongoing cooperation between Dunedin Public Library and Shanghai Library, Lan Yuan Dunedin Chinese Garden and Yu Garden, and the Shanghai Science & Technology Commission and Enterprise Dunedin.

Mayor of Dunedin Aaron Hawkins, says today’s signing was an important milestone in the relationship with Shanghai, “For Dunedin, this direct line into one of the world’s supercities has far-reaching benefits culturally and economically.

“As a direct result of this connection, we are the proud owners of Australasia’s only authentic Chinese Scholars Garden and have secured joint funding from the Shanghai Science & Technology Commission for important medical research on more than one occasion.

“International students from Shanghai are also an important part of our bilateral relationship and we are ready to warmly welcome them again in the near future,” says Mr. Hawkins.

Both parties noted the opportunity to expand areas of collaboration in mutual areas of interest such as the digital economy, innovation, science and technology research, climate change, and environmental protection.

Mayor of Shanghai Zheng Gong, says Shanghai and Dunedin are important bridges for friendly exchanges between China and New Zealand.

“This seventh round of MoU’s will be a starting point to expand pragmatic cooperation in new areas and write new chapters of friendly exchanges between the sister cities, making a bigger contribution to the friendship between the two countries.

“We welcome more companies from Dunedin to make investments in Shanghai to share opportunities of trade and business cooperation,” Mayor Gong ended.

Since establishing the sister city relationship 27 years ago, the two cities have signed six previous rounds of sister-city Memorandums of Understanding.

Attending the signing ceremony on behalf of Dunedin, were: Mayor of Dunedin Aaron Hawkins, Dunedin City Council CEO Sandy Graham, Enterprise Dunedin Manager John Christie, Dunedin Public Library Manager Bernie Hawke, and Director of Lan Yuan Dunedin Chinese Garden Cam McCracken.

The Shanghai contingent was represented by Mayor of Shanghai Zheng Gong, Director General of Shanghai Foreign Affairs Office Xiaosong Zhang, and other senior officials.

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