Guangzhou Mayor Sun Zhiyang met with an Auckland delegation led by Mayor Wayne Brown in Guangzhou on November 9.
Sun welcomed Brown and his delegation on their return visit to Guangzhou. He recalled Brown's first official visit to the city in 2024, when he met and interacted with local residents. He described the friendly exchanges between the two cities as fond memories. Over the past two years, Guangzhou and Auckland have made fruitful progress in economic and trade cooperation, cultural and tourism exchanges, education and other fields.
He expressed hope that the two sides would act on the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, strengthen economic and trade ties and expand cooperation in industrial investment, rail transit construction and operation, smart transportation, low-altitude equipment manufacturing, scientific research and the commercialization of technological achievements. He also welcomed more New Zealand businesses to invest in Guangzhou and called for closer youth and cultural tourism exchanges, greater sharing of experience in urban development and governance and stronger friendship-city ties, contributing to the steady development of China-New Zealand relations.
During the meeting, Brown played the banjo and joined his delegation in an impromptu performance of traditional Māori songs, expressing their best wishes for the friendship between the two cities. He said it was heartwarming to return to Guangzhou, describing it as a beautiful and prosperous city. He noted that hundreds of thousands of Chinese people have settled in Auckland and contributed to its economic and social development.
Since establishing friendship-city relations 37 years ago, Guangzhou and Auckland have maintained close exchanges, with frequent high-level visits and cooperation expanding in both depth and breadth. Brown expressed hope for further collaboration in rail transit, new energy storage, intelligent construction, trade and investment, cultural tourism and youth exchanges, bringing friendship-city cooperation to a new level.
Michael Zhang, Consul General of New Zealand in Guangzhou, also attended the meeting.
Author | He Fengyu
Photo | China Daily
