Video Meeting between Chongqing and Seattle to Celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the Sister City Relationship

On May 19th， Chongqing held a video conference with Seattle to discuss the prospective cooperation in economy and trade， people-to-people exchanges and education and exchanged views on how they will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the sister city relationship next year. The meeting was attended by Wang Wen， Director-General of the Foreign Affairs Office of Chongqing Municipal Government; Zhou Yi， Deputy Director-General of the Foreign Affairs Office of Chongqing Municipal Government; Gael D. Tarleton， Director of the Intergovernmental Relations Office; Stacey Jehlik， International Affairs Director of of Intergovernmental Relations Office; Scott Heinlein， President of the Seattle Chongqing Sister City Association; and Paige Miller， Vice President of the Chinese Horticultural Society in Seattle.

Wang Wen noted that Seattle is the only sister city of Chongqing in the United States. Since the relationship was established in 1983， we have built a strong friendship and conducted various reciprocal exchanges in economy and trade， culture， education， and horticulture. All have yielded impressive achievements. Chongqing stands ready to work with the Seattle government and citizens from all sectors to come up with celebration plans on high-level interactions， economy and trade， people-to-people exchanges， horticulture design and smart city development so as to? foster new highlights in mutual exchanges and cooperation.

Tarleton said Seattle government highly appreciates the 40-year sister city relationship with Chongqing. As both cities witnessed and supported each other’s development and progress， we have laid a solid cooperation foundation in economy and trade， education and arts， etc. The Seattle-Chongqing Sister City Association and Seattle Chinese horticulture Society will be committed to promoting friendly exchanges by organizing photography exhibitions， joint art shows and meetings on economic and trade cooperation. Additionally， the Society will mobilize the resources in Chongqing and Seattle to push the further development of the Seattle Chinese Garden， turning it into a window displaying Chinese arts and Chongqing-US cooperation in multiple fields.

5月19日，重慶市與美國(guó)西雅圖市舉行視頻會(huì)，商議在經(jīng)貿(mào)、人文、教育等領(lǐng)域的合作機(jī)遇，并就兩市明年如何共慶締結(jié)友好城市關(guān)系40周年開(kāi)展探討和交流。市政府外辦主任王雯、副主任周毅，西雅圖市政府間關(guān)系辦公室主任蓋爾·塔里頓、西雅圖市政府間關(guān)系辦公室國(guó)際事務(wù)部主任斯黛西·婕里克、西雅圖—重慶友好協(xié)會(huì)主席韓思克、西雅圖中國(guó)花園協(xié)會(huì)副主席佩吉·米勒等出席。

王雯表示，西雅圖市是重慶在美國(guó)的唯一友好城市，兩市自1983年建立友好城市關(guān)系以來(lái)，雙方友好歷久彌堅(jiān)，在經(jīng)貿(mào)、文化、教育、園林等諸多領(lǐng)域開(kāi)展了形式多樣、互惠互利的交流合作，成果顯著。重慶市愿與西雅圖市政府及民間各界友好人士共同攜手，在高層互動(dòng)、經(jīng)濟(jì)貿(mào)易、人文交流、園林建設(shè)及智慧城市建設(shè)等領(lǐng)域策劃相關(guān)慶祝活動(dòng)，共同培育兩市交流合作的新亮點(diǎn)。

塔里頓表示，西雅圖市政府非常珍視與重慶近40年的友好城市關(guān)系。雙方彼此支持并共同見(jiàn)證了各自的發(fā)展歷程，在經(jīng)貿(mào)、教育、文藝等多個(gè)領(lǐng)域建立了深厚堅(jiān)實(shí)的合作基礎(chǔ)。西雅圖—重慶友好協(xié)會(huì)和西雅圖中國(guó)花園協(xié)會(huì)將繼續(xù)致力于推動(dòng)兩市的友好交流，組織開(kāi)展攝影展、聯(lián)合文藝匯演、經(jīng)貿(mào)交流會(huì)等多種活動(dòng)，并廣泛借助兩市各界友好力量，推動(dòng)西華園的后續(xù)建設(shè)，將其打造為展示中國(guó)文化藝術(shù)以及重慶與美國(guó)各領(lǐng)域合作的窗口。