2010101316104624.jpg (Photo : chinacsxx.org)
The City of San Francisco, California has recently established a new sisterhood agreement with the city of Chaozhou in Guangdong province, marking yet another new sister city relationship between China and the United States.
Chaozhou Mayor Li Qingxiong said the sister city relationship will allow his city to entice and attract more talent from the United States and further promote Chaozhou's culture to California and the rest of the United States.
Darlene Chu Bryant of the San Francisco Center for Economic Development said Chaozhou is a perfect city to forge ties with considering that many residents in San Francisco are natives of the Chinese city.
Bryant added that San Francisco expressed interest to forge ties with Chaozhou because officials of the US city know that people from Chaozou are very business-minded.
The sister city ties signed by Chaozhou and San Francisco will help foster closer economic, trade, finance and cultural ties, among others, between the two.
The relationship is also expected to facilitate tourism between the two countries, said Xiao Xiayong of the Chinese consulate in San Francisco.
The sister city relationships, said Xiao, will also provide a chance for those Chaozhou descendants in San Francisco to appreciate and never forget their own heritage.
The two cities also inked a cooperation deal on culture to further entice non-governmental organizations and enterprises from both cities to exchange and cooperate.
As part of the sister city partnership, Chaouzhou will host a Chinese arts and crafts exhibition in San Francisco in 2014.
According to the San Francisco Travel Association (STFA), China is the fifth largest tourism market for the city, with 198,000 Chinese tourists visiting San Francisco in 2011.
SFTA Director of Media Relations Angela Jackson expressed optimism that the partnership of the two cities will further boost tourism in San Francisco. She said that everytime San Francisco signs a sister city deal with another city, there are always positive effects.
