On March 18, Ou Shuo, Deputy Director of the Changchun Municipal Foreign Affairs Office, was invited to attend the "China-Northern Ireland Sister City Exchange Conference" and delivered a keynote speech.

Deputy Director Ou Shuo reviewed the fruitful achievements of sister city cooperation, shared insights on the broad opportunities for future collaboration, and highlighted Changchun's competitive industries. He stated that Newry, as one of the most dynamic cities in Northern Ireland, boasts distinctive strengths in areas such as agriculture, forestry, and fisheries, advanced engineering and manufacturing, life and health sciences, tourism, education, digital creative industries, and finance. These align closely with Changchun's vision for building a modern metropolitan area and its high-quality development strategy. As a city known as the cradle of China's industrial foundation, a leader in agriculture, a hub of science, education, and culture, and a model of green, livable, open, and vibrant urban development, Changchun enjoys broad prospects for cooperation with Newry. He hoped that both sides would build on this foundation, fully leverage platform functions, precisely match needs across various fields, and deepen collaborative discussions in areas such as high-end equipment manufacturing, vocational education, new energy, exhibitions, cultural tourism, and creative industries, jointly working to turn opportunities into tangible outcomes.

Brenda, Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Northern Ireland Executive Office, and Kerry Curran, Chief Representative and Minister-Counsellor of the Northern Ireland Office in China, delivered speeches respectively. They emphasized the significant value of sister city relationships for Northern Ireland's development, and expressed keen interest in future exchanges between Newry and Changchun, particularly in the creative industries, with special attention to the film sector.

During the discussion session, Deputy Director Ou Shuo engaged in in-depth exchanges with representatives from Northern Ireland and various provinces and cities on topics including the implementation of sister city programs, strategies for supporting enterprises to "go global", and approaches to attracting participation in exhibitions. Representatives from Liaoning Province, Hubei Province, Shenyang, Dalian, and Huangshi also shared highlights of their respective sister city engagements at the conference.

Source: European and African Affairs Division of the CCFAO  Editor: Liu Jiadi