Zhuhai is on the verge of welcoming its 13th international sister city, the US city of Providence, Rhode Island, thus further expanding its friendly-tie global stretch across Asia, Europe, America, and Oceania.

A documentation review was conducted on Aug 30 to be submitted to the Guangdong provincial government and Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries for final approval.

Providence in the US

Yet-to-knot-tie city

Providence is an important harbor city in the eastern US state of Rhode Island on the Atlantic coast, and the third-largest city in the New England Region. 

The US city is renowned for quality education institutions, such as the Ivy League Brown University, Rhode Island School of Design, the University of Rhode Island, and other famous institutes. The capital of Rhode Island has carried the moniker of "Providence, The Creative Capital" since 2009, and invests heavily in education and the arts.

If the city’s hope to build up ties with Zhuhai comes true, a wide range of exchanges and cooperation in education is expected to take place, according to a Providence government official.

Providence to become the 13th sister city [File photos]

Sister city related to airshow

Zhuhai’s first international sister city dates back to 1987, when then mayor Liang Guangda struck up relations with the southwestern Canadian city of Surrey. A senator named Mali Hunter suggested that Liang add an air show exhibition center to Zhuhai’s yet-to-be-built airport. 

Nine years later, the Canadian politician’s suggestion was realized as Zhuhai opened its signature biennial Airshow China exhibition.

Farthest yet closest sister city

The Swedish port city Gävle is the farthest from Zhuhai in distance but with the closest relations. Ericsson, a multinational networking and telecommunications equipment and services company, is headquartered in the city. Since the relationship was established six years ago, the two cities have conducted annual exchanges in terms of governments, economy and trade, culture, tourism, education, and healthcare. To celebrate the five-year friendship, the mayor of Gävle visited Zhuhai on Jan 30, 2015 and brought along a 13-m tall, 7-m long, 3-ton Gävle goat, the city’s beloved Christmas symbol, as a gift to Zhuhai.