Friendship cities highlighted in building Belt and Road

Zhang Zihan

N anjing， capital of the early Ming Dynasty （1368-1644）， was where the famous Chinese mariner Zheng He weighed anchor to the West and was the starting point of the maritime Silk Road. The destination of Zheng Hes great voyages was Italy.

The tale of two cities began thousands of years ago on the Silk Road.

“Friendships are not chosen by chance， but nurtured by the passions that dominate us.”

—Alberto Moravia， Italian writer

In February 1980， with the help of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs， the Chinese Peoples Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and former Chinese ambassador to Italy Zhang Yue， Nanjing and Florence became friendship cities. It was the first pair of friendship cities between Jiangsu province and Europe， and the third between China and Europe， opening a new chapter in the history of Jiangsus overseas exchanges.

Over the past 40 years， no matter how the international situation changed， friendly and cooperative relations between the two cities developed steadily， with exchanges and cooperation in the fields of economy and trade， science and technology， education， culture， health， sports， urban construction and innovation. From government visits to civilian exchanges， the two cities have consolidated their communication and cooperation at all levels in various domains.

The mayor of Florence has visited Nanjing many times， attended the World Historical and Cultural City Expo held in Nanjing， as well as economic， trade and investment matchmaking meetings. Meanwhile， Nanjing calligraphers and painters have gone to Florence to show Italian audiences the artistic style of Chinese ink painting and building a bridge of communication through art. In particular， Nanjings Xuanwu district has carried out fruitful and innovative cooperation with Italy.

Nanjing established the Overseas Collaborative Innovation Center in Florence， making active contributions to the development of the ChinaEurope relationship at the sub-national level. It is also a good example of promoting state-to-state relations through people-to-people exchanges.

Under the old bridge of Ponte Vecchio in Florence flows the blue waters of the Arno River. Under the ancient city wall of Nanjing winds the majestic Yangtze River. As ancient capitals， both cities have a rich historical heritage. Friendship has taken us from the Silk Road of the past to the Belt and Road of today.

During the pandemic， the two cities showed great love and support for each other.

“Clouds dont always cloud the sky. Sometimes they light it up.”

— Li Rihua， a writer of the Ming Dynasty， to Italian missionary Matteo Ricci

Last year marked the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Italy as well as the 40th anniversary of friendship-city relations between Nanjing and Florence. With the COVID-19 pandemic ravaging the world， we didnt hold celebrations on these occasions. However， cooperation in the fight against COVID-19 sealed the everlasting friendship between the two cities. At a critical moment in Chinas battle against the pandemic， the mayor of Florence launched an “embrace the Chinese” initiative on social media， which not only showed support for China but also warmed the hearts of more than a billion Chinese people.

In late February 2020， as the pandemic spread in Italy， the mayor of Nanjing sent a condolence letter to the mayor of Florence expressing her willingness to share experiences with Florence in the fight against the pandemic.

March 25 is the date of the traditional New Year in Florence. For centuries， citizens of Florence wore traditional costumes and organized parades， exhibitions， food events and music rituals to celebrate the arrival of spring. But in the special New Year of 2020， it was shrouded in the shadow of the pandemic and its streets were empty.

At the critical moment， as COVID-19 spread in Florence， Nanjing donated 150，000 disposable medical masks to the Italian city， demonstrating the old saying， “Friendship that crosses thousands of miles is stronger than metal and stone.” It was a practical action that sent the warmth of spring to our friendship city in the cold winter. The mayor of Florence not only expressed his gratitude on social media and sent us a letter of thanks， but also repeatedly expressed his willingness to come to Nanjing to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the establishment of friendship city relations.

During the pandemic， in addition to the donation of anti-pandemic materials and information sharing， Nanjing also actively facilitated the resumption of business operations for the Italian enterprises in Nanjing， assisted Italy in completing the transportation of diplomatic bags during the special period and played an important role as a bridge in Sino-Italian exchanges. Italian ambassador to China Luca Ferrari appreciated Nanjings donation of anti-pandemic materials to Italy and the contribution of a direct flight from Milan to Nanjing in the global cooperation against COVID-19， expressing hope for further promotion of the cooperation between Nanjing and Italy.

Serve domestic and international dual circulations， and write a new chapter in the history of friendship cities.

“More efforts need to be made on the sister city project to encourage exchanges at the local government level for the benefit of resources sharing， mutual complementarities and win-win cooperation.”

— Xi Jinping， president of China

Han Liming， member of the Standing Committee of the Jiangsu Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China and secretary of the CPCs Nanjing Municipal Committee， said that as Jiangsus capital and one of the countrys central cities and mega cities， Nanjing is the strategic fulcrum of the domestic big circulation and an important hub for smooth domestic and international dual circulations.

“We should strive to play the role of provincial capital in serving the country in fostering a new development paradigm，” Han said. “We should build a new pattern of opening to the world at a high level， expand new channels for the utilization of overseas resources at a high level， build a new model of friendship-city relations from a high starting point and help achieve the goal and vision of an innovative famous city and beautiful ancient capital with highquality development.

“We should adhere to innovationdriven development， strengthen international scientific and technological exchanges and cooperation， optimize the business environment， and promote international and domestic dual circulations reinforcing each other. We will promote the Belt and Road Initiative with high quality development and speed up the construction of healthy， digital and green Silk Road.

“We will deepen multilateral， bilateral and regional economic and trade cooperation and build a global network of high-standard free trade zones. We will deepen cooperation with other countries to fight COVID-19 and jointly promote global economic recovery.”

To serve the countrys overall diplomacy and help build Nanjing into an innovative city and an international consumption center， and also to make new local contributions to the development of Sino-Italian relations， Xuanwu district and the Nanjing Foreign Affairs Office cooperated with the China-Italy Chamber of Commerce under the guidance of the Nanjing municipal government and Jiangsu Foreign Affairs Office after full consultation with Florence in the early stage.

The 40th anniversary activity plan， with the theme “An encounter stretching across a thousand years”， was jointly formulated and was affirmed and supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs， the Chinese embassy in Italy and the Chinese consulate in Florence. Under the influence of the pandemic， a series of activities originally planned to be held at the end of 2020 were finally held in Nanjing from May 21 to 23 this year.

The 40th anniversary of the establishment of friendship-city relations between Nanjing and Florence， along with Culture Week， kicked off with a series of events — the opening ceremony， China-Italy food festival， fashion show， music performance and chef training courses — to further promote in-depth exchanges between the two cities in various fields， so that the citizens of Nanjing can feel Italian culture by themselves.

Nanjing will also launch a new round of programs to boost consumption by organizing citizen tourist groups to visit its international sister cities after the pandemic， and by signing cultural and tourism strategic cooperation agreements， to inject confidence and momentum into the global cultural and tourism revival after the pandemic. A number of domestic and foreign mainstream media outlets and new media covered the events.

At the opening ceremony， Nanjing and Florence not only signed （virtually） the Agreement on Furthering Friendly Cooperation but also played cultural tourism promotion videos of the two cities， so that the hosts of both sides could show “hand in hand” friendship between the two cities in an especially vivid form. On the other hand， at the warm-up and publicity stage of the events， we also used emerging media platforms and cloud media to tell the Nanjing story in a more lively way to a larger audience.

Chinas Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its consulate in Florence have paid great attention to the events and provided guidance and strong support all the way. Ambassador Li Junhua and Consul General Wang Wengang also sent video speeches to express their appreciation for the time-tested friendship between the two cities and their expectation of future cooperation between Nanjing and Florence.