Huzhou in East China's Zhejiang province and Shimada in Japan hold a video conference on Nov 8 to mark the 35th anniversary of the establishment of sister-city relations between the two cities. [Photo/WeChat account: huzhoufabu]

Huzhou in East China's Zhejiang province and Shimada in Japan held a video conference on Nov 8 to mark the 35th anniversary of the establishment of their sister-city relationship.

Huzhou has set up sister-city relations or friendly exchange relations with 39 cities in 19 countries since 1987, when Shimada in Japan became its first sister city.

Hong Hupeng, mayor of Huzhou, pointed out at the conference that Huzhou and Shimada have maintained close people-to-people exchanges and promoted bilateral cooperation in fields such as education, culture, economy and trade over the past 35 years.

This year also marks the 50th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between Japan and China, Hong said, expressing hope that Huzhou and Shimada will cement pragmatic cooperation and exchanges, deepen mutual learning and promote their friendship in the years to come so as to contribute to the sustained, sound and steady progress of Sino-Japanese relations.

His counterpart, Someya Kinuyo, mayor of Shimada, noted that since the establishment of the sister-city relationship, Shimada and Huzhou have carried out exchanges and in-depth cooperation and forged a profound friendship.

Talking about the 50th anniversary of the China-Japan normalization of diplomatic relations and the 35th anniversary of the establishment of the sister-city relationship between Shimada and Huzhou, Kinuyo said that the two cities can work together to further strengthen friendly exchanges and enhance their friendship despite the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic.