A
delegation from Lianyungang visited Wurriki Nyal this month to mark 30 years of
its sister-city relationship with us.
The
sister-city relationship dates back to a proposal by the Shire of Corio in
1989, with the relationship established after it became the City of Greater
Geelong following amalgamation in the 1990s.
Lianyungang
has many similarities to our city – known as China’s ‘East-West Freight
Corridor’, it is a port city linking eastern sea routes with western land
routes. It has a strong history in farming and agriculture and is developing
new healthcare, materials, and energy industries.
During
their visit to Geelong, the delegation visited Geelong Port and learnt about
the Advanced Fibre Cluster.
As
part of the visit, the delegation participated in a book exchange with us, with each city receiving a collection of cultural,
historical and tourism-focused books.
The
exchange was led by the Chair of the Economic Development Portfolio, Cr Trent
Sullivan, and Mr. Ma Shiguang, Secretary of Lianyungang Municipal Committee of
CPC and Chairman of the Standing Committee of Lianyungang Municipal People's
Congress.
The
books exchanged from the City of Greater Geelong, including ‘Humans in
Geelong: Inspire, Connect, Strengthen’ and ‘Geelong Gallery Collections’
will go to a special sister city shelf at the Lianyungang library, while the
books received from Lianyungang will be made available to the Geelong
community, encouraging people to learn about and visit Lianyungang.
There
have been multiple delegations from Lianyungang over the relationship’s three
decades, with City of Greater Geelong representatives travelling to Lianyungang
in 2016.
Geelong
Mayor Stretch Kontelj OAM:
As
a former president of the Geelong Ethnic Communities Council, now known as
Cultura, I’ve seen first-hand how these types of relationships support
multiculturalism and cultural exchange in our city.
With
so many different cultures in Geelong, our city is a great success story, and
we enjoy relationships with cities in several countries including China, South
Korea, Japan and East Timor, which are very important to us.
Councillor
Trent Sullivan:
It
was a pleasure to host Mr. Ma Shiguang and the Lianyungang delegation at
Wurriki Nyal.
A
selection of books highlighting Geelong will be in Lianyungang’s library, and
we’ll be making the books we’ve received available to the community.