Lilongwe of Malawi, Lvliang of Shanxi Sign Memorandum on Sister City Relations Online

Lilongwe of Malawi and Lvliang of Shanxi sign a memorandum on sister city relations. 

Taiyuan, March 17 (Gao Yuqing, Hu Jian) /China News Service/ -- A conference on friendly exchanges between Lilongwe City of Malawi and Lvliang City of Shanxi Province was held via video link on March 17. At the conference, the two sides signed a memorandum on sister city relations. Both sides plan to deepen their cooperation in agriculture, medical treatment, education and other fields, further develop their friendly relations, and promote win-win cooperation. Lvliang became the first prefecture-level city in Shanxi Province to sign a memorandum of understanding on development of sister city relations with a foreign capital city.

In recent years, Lvliang City has been actively pursuing a new height for the opening-up in inland areas, expanding its global "circle of friends", and making strides towards the world with a more open concept. Ren Lei, vice mayor of Lvliang City, delivered a speech at the conference, saying that Lvliang City and Lilongwe City have a good foundation of cooperation and broad cooperation space, and that Lvliang is willing to carry out exchanges and cooperation with Lilongwe in poverty alleviation, agriculture, wine industry, green industry and other aspects. "We look forward to working with the city of Lilongwe to take this event as a starting point, so as to strengthen communication and interaction, jointly write a new chapter of friendship and cooperation, and help the  relations between the two countries become better and closer," he said.

The Conference on Friendly Exchanges between Lilongwe City of Malawi and Lvliang City of Shanxi Province was held in Taiyuan and Lilongwe via video link on March 17.　(Photo/Foreign Affairs Office of Shanxi Province)

Richard Banda, mayor of Lilongwe City, said that he was honored to cooperate and establish a partnership with Lvliang City. This cooperation is expected to promote both sides to be fruitful in agriculture, health care, education and other fields, and better benefit the people of both regions.

Officials of the Education Bureau, the Health Commission, and the Rural Revitalization Bureau of Lvliang City introduced their work, and government departments of Lilongwe City also introduced their work in relevant fields. In addition, Gao Houping, director of the Foreign Affairs Office of Lvliang City, issued a letter of appointment to Mr Ma Zhanjiang, who is in charge of investment project of the Grand Business Park in Lilongwe City, as the overseas liaison of the Foreign Affairs Office of Lvliang City and special director of the People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries of Lvliang City.

Up to now, Lvliang City has established sister city relations with the city of Semur-en-Auxois in France, as well as friendly and cooperative partnerships with the city of Kapchagay (now Kunayev City) in Kazakhstan, the city of Heredia in Costa Rica, the city of Tiszafüred in the Szolnok state of Hungary, the city of Dabas in Pest County of Hungary, the city of Inárcs in Hungary, the city of Goito in the Mantova province of Italy, and the province of Cuneo in the Piedmont region of Italy.