Internal working platform of Yunnan Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries

"Ten years ago, the two sides sowed the seeds of friendship; today, this flower has bloomed into a vibrant 'bridge of friendship'." Alin Augustine Felorin Popoview, vice chairman of the Timish Provincial Committee of Romania, described the friendship process between Timish and Yunnan provinces in Kunming on the 20th.

On the same day, the main event of the 2025 Yunnan International Friendship City Cooperation Week - the Friendship City Promotion Conference, hosted by the Yunnan People's Association for Friendship and guided by the China Association for Friendship and Foreign Affairs, was held in Kunming. Representatives from international friendly cities such as Bantei Mianji Province in Cambodia, Yangon Province in Myanmar, Incheon City in South Korea, Timish Province in Romania, Chiang Rai Province in Thailand, Laojie Province in Vietnam, as well as local government leaders in Kunming City, Honghe Prefecture, Xishuangbanna Prefecture, Dehong Prefecture, etc. in Yunnan Province successively promoted them to jointly seek cooperative development.

The picture shows the promotion meeting. Photo by Lu Xicheng

Since Kunming City, China and Fujisawa City, Japan, established the first pair of internationally friendly cities in Yunnan Province in 1981, Yunnan's international friendly city work has gone through 44 years. Up to now, Yunnan Province has established 116 pairs of international friendly cities with 37 countries on five continents, and has also established friendly exchanges and cooperation relations with South Chungcheon Province, Incheon Hiroshima City, and Iwate Prefecture, Japan, to form a global friendly city network.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the establishment of friendly provincial relations between Yunnan Province and Timish Province. Alin Augustine Felorin Popoview recorded the results of the cooperation between the two sides in the ten years at the promotion meeting: In 2019, the two sides deepened friendly relations through high-level visits; in 2021, despite the challenges such as the epidemic, the two sides still maintained the momentum of cooperation based on online channels; in 2022, Yunnan Cancer Hospital, Timish Cancer Research Center, Yunnan Agricultural University and Romania Bennet University of Agricultural Science and Technology signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation, and medical and educational cooperation made substantial progress; in 2024, the Yunnan Provincial People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and the Yunnan Folk International Friendship Exchange Foundation jointly planned and organized the "There is a Life called Yunnan" cultural exchange project, inviting Timish youth to come to Yunnan to build a bridge for the youth of the two provinces to understand each other's culture and enhance friendship.

Timish Province is located in western Romania and is an important hub connecting Central and Western Europe. The province has modern infrastructure and international aviation hubs, with information and communications, automobile industry and green energy as its pillar industries.

Alin Augustine Felorin Popoview said that based on existing cooperation in medical care, education, etc., the two parties are seeking new cooperation opportunities in the fields of construction, real estate, etc., and many real estate developers in Timish Province are actively connecting with Yunnan suppliers to explore more cooperation possibilities.

Incheon Gwangju City, South Korea, which established friendly exchanges and cooperation relations with Yunnan in 2015, has maintained close contacts with Yunnan for ten years. The city’s deputy mayor Huang Xiaozhen visited Yunnan again after 20 years. "Twenty years ago, what impressed me the most was the natural scenery and diverse ethnic culture of Yunnan. This time I came back and found that the city has a new look, the infrastructure has been more perfect, and the tourism services have become more mature."

Huang Xiaozhen said that as an important gateway city in South Korea, Incheon Gwangju City has development engines such as Incheon International Airport, Incheon Port and Economic Free Trade Zone, and its economic scale ranks second in South Korea. He believes that Yunnan has rich tourism resources and ranks among the forefront of China in the development and utilization of green energy. Incheon Guangyu City has advantages in industries such as biotechnology, semiconductors, and logistics. The two sides can cooperate in multiple fields such as tourism exchange and promotion, high-tech industry docking, and achieve complementary advantages and mutual benefit and win-win results.

A signing ceremony was also held after the promotion meeting. Yunnan Vice Governor Xu Hao and Indonesian Western Sumatra Governor Mahdi Ansharula signed the "Letter of Intent to Establish Friendly Provincial Relations between Yunnan Province and Indonesian Western Sumatra Province" on the spot. In addition, all parties have also signed a number of cooperation documents involving friendly urban settlement, medical care, agriculture, environmental protection, economic, trade and investment.