Vitebsk and China's Harbin become sister cities

April 17, Vitebsk / Olga Bogacheva - BELTA /. Vitebsk and the Chinese city of Harbin have established sister-city relations. An agreement to this effect was signed today in Vitebsk by the Chairman of the Vitebsk City Council of Deputies, Nikolai Orlov, and the Deputy Chairman of the Harbin People's Government, Wang Li, according to a BELTA correspondent. According to Wang Li, this is the first official visit of a Harbin delegation to Vitebsk. "We still need to get acquainted with the city, its capabilities, and identify a range of specific projects for further joint work in various sectors," the Deputy Chairman of the Harbin People's Government noted. "At the same time, Vitebsk and Harbin have much in common in the fields of education, culture, and sports. Priority is also given to trade and economic relations. Cooperation in this area will benefit the development of our regions and help improve the situation our countries find themselves in due to the global financial crisis." With the aim of establishing economic contacts, Vitebsk has received an invitation to participate in the 20th anniversary Harbin International Economic and Trade Fair, which will be held in June. For now, guests from the Celestial Empire will familiarize themselves with the opportunities for organizing and conducting business in the "Vitebsk" Free Economic Zone, using the example of its resident enterprise "Fortex - Water Technologies." The Vitebsk Distillery and OJSC "Moloko" will present their cooperation proposals to them. The Harbin delegation will also visit Vitebsk State University named after P.M. Masherov and some cultural sites of the regional center. Harbin has become Vitebsk's second sister city in China. Specific areas of cooperation with it are yet to be outlined. At the same time, with Jinan, an agreement on sister-city relations with which was signed in early April of this year, a certain basis for joint projects has already been established. In particular, during the visit of the delegation from this Chinese city, agreements were reached on the creation of a traditional Chinese medicine and Wushu health center in Vitebsk, as well as on the participation of Jinan schoolchildren in the international children's plein air "Vitebsk - City of Marc Chagall" in July-August of this year. Vitebsk residents, in turn, received an invitation to the "Horticulture" international exhibition and an international children's festival in the sister city. -0-