Xiamen boosts links with Brazil city of Foz do Iguacu
The foreign affairs office of Xiamen city in East China's Fujian province and the international relations department of the city of Foz do Iguacu in Brazil held a video conference on March 9.
The purpose was to review past friendly exchanges and to discuss their future cooperation plans.
The Brazilian side thanked Xiamen for its support to Foz do Iguacu during the COVID-19 pandemic and said it valued and respected their mutual friendship.
Representatives of the South American city also revealed that in 2023 it officially made the Chinese Spring Festival a public holiday, in order to help Brazilians learn more about Chinese culture.
They expressed the wish to work with Xiamen to organize events such as "Happy Spring Festival" and "Xiamen Week" to promote mutual understanding and friendship between the two places.
Lin Na, vice-president of the Xiamen People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, said the two cities had a long history of friendship and cooperation with remarkable achievements.
She said that especially during the pandemic, they had planned various online exchange activities and became closer.
Lin added that as tourism recovered in both places, there would be more opportunities to cooperate in fields such as tourism, environmental protection, sustainable development and the preservation of cultural heritage.
During the video conference, they also discussed such issues as setting up a regular video conference mechanism, visiting each other in 2023, as well as attending the eighth China (Xiamen) International Leisure Tourism Expo and the 2023 China International Fair for Investment and Trade.
China announced and implemented on May 15 a policy allowing visa-free entry of foreign tourist groups aboard cruise ships via all cruise ship ports along the country's coastline.
China and Georgia are set to waive visa requirements for travelers starting May 28.
