A letter of intent to twin Prince George with Jiangmen in China was signed by officials from both cities on Monday.
Within weeks of a Prince George delegation visiting the Chinese city of Jiangmen, delegates from there went well out of their way to come here this week. On a pre-arranged trade mission to Detroit, Chicago and Boston, they made arrangements to deviate routes to take in Prince George on the way home.
They used the opportunity to start the official process towards full municipal partnership.
The signatories were Prince George mayor Dan Rogers and Jiangmen vice-mayor Chen.
"We are pleased to continue to build stronger relationships with our partners from Jiangmen," said Rogers. "This is another step in establishing a twinning relationship with a city that has a great appreciation for our community and region."
"I strongly believe this letter of intent will be welcomed by citizens from both Prince George and Jiangmen," said Chen. "The real beneficiaries of this partnership will be the great people that reside in Prince George and Jiangmen."
The two cities intend to establish a twinning relationship in the next year, to support co-operation in the following areas of common interest:
Tourism
Cultural exchange
Health care
Transportation and logistics
Pulp and paper
Post secondary education
Any other areas of mutual interest
The delegation of five were municipal representatives and/or healthcare officials and they put a focus on the healthcare education offerings of Prince George during their visit here. They toured CNC and UNBC with particular interest. They expressed an almost immediate interest in sending students here for the joint CNC-UNBC nursing programs.
"If I sent a student to CNC or UNBC I would be very comfortable," said Chen via interpretation by Wei Liu, the director of market development for Initiatives Prince George. "Also, both schools put a lot of emphasis on hands-on experience to get students into their field quickly."
Rogers said that "I have no doubt we have taken a very important step for the future prosperity of both our cities, and on a personal note, we (Chen and himself) both have daughters and perhaps my daughter will one day go on to university in Jiangmen and her daughter will go to university in Prince George, but since our daughters are 3 and 10, we have many years to work on the details."
Chen remarked that mining, forestry and tourism were big areas of interest from Prince George for Jiangmen.
When asked by The Citizen if there were any immediate obstacles to business relations between our two cities more than one of the delegation spoke a spontaneous and resounding "No" with no translation required.
