Representatives of Shenzhen's sister cities in Japan, Italy, South Korea and France voiced their appreciation of the city's media during their visit to the Shenzhen Press Group on Thursday, and called for more cooperation between Shenzhen and their sister cities, on both governmental and non-governmental levels.

After Wang Tianliang, editor-in-chief of the Shenzhen Press Group, introduced the idea of a media exchange program between Shenzhen and its sister cities, Andre Senecheau, vice president of the general council of La Vienne and mayor of Voulon, France, became the first to extend an invitation to Shenzhen newspapers to visit his city, saying exchanges in culture, education, science should be strengthened.

The Shenzhen Press Group plans to initiate a program next month to introduce Shenzhen's sister cities to local residents so as to promote better understanding and exchanges between city residents on both sides.

Qiu Yongle, a department chief of the Shenzhen Municipal Foreign Affairs Office, said the program was significant as it promoted exchanges at the non-governmental level.

The visitors are in Shenzhen for the city's four-day cultural industry fair, which opened Thursday.

Shenzhen has established sister-city ties with 11 cities, including Houston in the United States, Gwang Yang in South Korea, Brisbane in Australia, Tsubaka in Japan and La Vienne in France.

Editor: Yan