East China’s Jiangsu province kicked off on Wednesday the "International Friendship Cities Week for BRI Cooperation. Wu Zhenglong, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee and Director of the Standing Committee of the Provincial People's Congress, delivered a speech and announced the opening of the exchange week. Governor Xu Kunlin was present at the opening ceremony. The event is sponsored by the Jiangsu Provincial Government and Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries.
Wu Zhenglong said that the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" is a great initiative personally planned, deployed and promoted by President Xi Jinping.
Over the past eight years, the Belt and Road Initiative has become the most extensive and largest international cooperation platform in the world today that have developed from great initiatives to positive actions, from beautiful visions to vivid reality, said Wu.
He remarked that Jiangsu is at the intersection of the "Belt and Road", and international sister cities are an important channel for us to actively integrate into the joint construction of the "Belt and Road".
The provincial party chief said that by adhering to high standards, sustainability, and people's livelihood, Jiangsu has promoted exchanges and cooperation in various fields pragmatically and fueled the integration of cultural and civilization with its "circle of friends" getting bigger and bigger to bring more and more "good friends and true friends" while each other has gained a lot of "gold-like" precious friendship.
Wu Zhenglong pointed out that in the exchanges and cooperation in the joint construction of the "Belt and Road", we have promoted mutual understanding, deepened mutual friendship, and gained an increasing awareness of the fact that human beings are a community with a shared future, and we are all builders and defenders of a community with a shared future for mankind.
Noting that under the intertwined impact of major changes unseen in the world in a century and an epidemic unseen in a century, economic globalization has encountered adverse currents, and the world has entered a new period of turbulence and change, Wu Zhenglong said we firmly believe that the long river of history will always flow forward, and the general trend of opening up and development is irreversible so that it is a common wish for us to work together to confront the challenges.
He said Jiangsu will resolutely implement the spirit of President Xi Jinping's important instructions, unswervingly promote a higher level of opening up, create favorable conditions for exchanges and cooperation between sister cities, and strive to make greater contributions to the joint construction of the "Belt and Road", adding that the epidemic cannot stop our deep friendship and prevent us from forging ahead together although the it has temporarily blocked our face-to-face communication.
The CPC provincial chief said we believe that if a pair of sister cities join hands and walk in the same direction, they will surely be able to walk wider and wider on this hopeful road of peace, prosperity, opening up, innovation and civilization.
Lin Songtian, chairman of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, pointed out that China is committed to socialist modernization for common prosperity internally, and externally it is committed to the globalization of win-win cooperation and common development with other countries in the world.
Noting that the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" initiative proposed by President Xi Jinping is an important path to realize a community with a shared future for mankind, he said Jiangsu has achieved remarkable results in exchanges and cooperation with the cities in the Belt and Road countries.
The Jiangsu International Friendship Cities Week for BRI Cooperation has built a platform for the exchange and cooperation between Jiangsu and the sister cities in the Belt and Road" countries and also created a model for China's new era of international sister city work.
Lin Songtian added that this exchange week will surely provide new opportunities and create new achievements for Jiangsu and international sister cities to enhance understanding, deepen friendship, promote cooperation, and seek high-quality joint construction of the "Belt and Road" so as to better benefit people of all countries.
The Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries will actively support Jiangsu and other Chinese local governments to deepen friendly and mutually beneficial cooperation with international sister cities in various fields for win-win cooperation and shared development.
Officials from sister cities in various countries said that the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" is in line with the fundamental interests of the development of all countries. The exchange of international sister cities has built a bridge of mutual learning and a platform for diverse interactions. As a result, they will continue to actively support and participate in the joint construction of the "Belt and Road", deepen practical cooperation with Jiangsu in various fields, and work together to build a community with a shared future for mankind and jointly create a better future.
The Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and sister cities of various countries jointly signed the "Nanjing Initiative", which advocates building a community with a shared future for mankind, jointly building the "Belt and Road", strengthening exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations, and achieving sustainable development.
Jiangsu Province and Russia's Mogilev Region signed a three-year cooperation plan, showcasing the results of exchanges and cooperation between Jiangsu and international sister cities.
