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Thunder Bay adds new sister city

Thunder Bay, China's Jiaozuo City officially partner as leaders eye potential economic benefit.
Sister cities
Thunder Bay and China's Jiaozuo City formally signed a sister cities agreement on Friday, May 26, 2017. (Matt Vis, tbnewswatch.com)

THUNDER BAY – Through its sister cities program, Thunder Bay now has a direct connection to China that municipal leaders are optimistic will result in economic benefit.

Local leaders from Thunder Bay and Jiaozuo City formally signed into agreement as sister cities at a ceremony held Friday afternoon at city hall, becoming the fifth such partnership.

Coun. Brian McKinnon, chair of the Sister Cities Advisory Committee, said tai chi originally played a large role in bringing Thunder Bay and Jiaozuo City together.

But it’s the shared involvement in the mining industry that could make the relationship special.

“They were talking about highways that could be built here, railways that could be built,” McKinnon said. “It’s conjecture at this point but that’s the potential we’re looking at.”

Despite a vast difference in population, McKinnon said proportionality means the two cities are relatively equally positioned in their respective countries.

“Remember, 3.5 million people in China is a small city,” McKinnon said. “You have to find the right city and we think we have.”

The Chinese delegation arrived Friday morning and was taken on a whirlwind tour that included meetings with the Thunder Bay Community Economic Development Commission and a visit to Lakehead University.

Yang Qingjiu, executive vice mayor of Jiaozuo City, said there are opportunities for the two cities to work together.

“I personally believe we can have some co-operation about mining. In Jiaozuo, we have a long history about digging mines and I think we can co-operate in the fields of education and some industry,” Qingjiu said through a translator.

Thunder Bay currently has other sister cities agreements with American neighbour Duluth and Twin Cities suburb Little Canada, Japan’s Gifu City and Finland’s Seinäjoki. There were previous agreements with Keelung, Taiwan and Siderno, Italy.

The sister cities program has been the subject of public criticism in the past as its value has been questioned.

“Our budget is only $25,000 for the whole year,” McKinnon said. “That’s really a small amount relative to other budgets. I think we’re spending it wisely and I think the results are starting to show.”



About the Author: Matt Vis

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