China International Friendship Cities Conference 2018 (CIFCC)

Last week Stratford-on-Avon District Council's Chairman, Cllr Christopher Kettle, travelled to Wuhan, Hubei Province, as a guest of the China International Friendship Cities Association, to collect an award on behalf of the District Council at the 2018 China International Friendship Cities Conference.

102 awards were given out by the China International Friendship Cities Association of which 24 were awarded to Chinese and 78 international cities.

In addition, the District Council Chairman was invited to address the conference on the theme of 'Sharing Development Opportunities and Deepening Win-Win Cooperation'; one of only four delegates selected out of the 102 cities receiving an award.  The other three delegates were from Henan Province and Chengdu in China, along with Urasoe City in Japan.

The Friendship City Award for Exchanges and Cooperation with China will help strengthen the relationship between The City of Fuzhou, Jiangxi Province, and Stratford-upon-Avon town.  It will help develop further links between the two, already celebrating their existing links through their poets Tang Xianzu and William Shakespeare, who both died in the same year, 1616. This relationship has been recently highlighted with the visit by a delegation from Stratford in September to Fuzhou and the Three Dramatist Park being built by Fuzhou at San Weng.

In his speech, Cllr Kettle focused on the proactive relationship between Fuzhou and the City's Mayor, Mr Zhang Hongxing, the District Council and Stratford-upon-Avon. He also referred to the other links already created between King Edward VI School in Stratford-upon-Avon and with Linchuan No.1 Middle School in Fuzhou and also with the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.

Cllr Christopher Kettle, speaking on his return, said: "It was a great privilege to be invited by the joint hosts of the conference, the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, the China International Friendship Cities Association and Wuhan Municipal People's Government to collect this award and to speak in front of such an international audience about our successful relationship with Fuzhou. Stratford-on-Avon District looks forward to the future working with our colleagues in both Fuzhou and Jiangxi Province on our shared cultural and other links and looking towards such opportunities that this relationship might bring forward."

The China International Friendship Cities Conference (CIFCC) is an important international conference, hosted by the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with foreign countries, the China International Friendship cities Association as well as local governments.  The aim of the conference is to enhance government dialogue, cooperation and international vision and to promote activities establishing friendship cities among different countries.

The conference is held every two years with a total number of 600 attendees from former foreign statesmen, foreign local organisations, leaders from friendship cities, international friendly public figures and delegations from China's provinces, regions and municipalities.   

The nature of the conference makes it the highest level meeting in China on friendship cities.

The CIFCC is a platform for municipal governments to exchange ideas and discuss issues concerning modern, international, ecological and smart cities and to share development opportunities, deepen win-win cooperation, facilitate exchanges among friendship cities and promote common prosperity.