Shanghai Staff Exchange the Next Step

Shanghai Staff Exchange the Next Step

Dunedin, 12 February 2014 – First it was students and now it’s staff.

The Dunedin City Council has another opportunity to showcase the city, when a staff member from the Foreign Affairs Office of the Shanghai Municipal Government arrives next week for a two-month staff exchange.

Tomorrow, 10 tertiary students and a teacher from Shanghai arrive in Dunedin for a two-week programme, with a group of secondary students visiting in March as part of the same scholarship programme.

DCC Business Development Advisor Margo Reid says both the staff exchange and student visits were initiated when a Dunedin delegation visited its Chinese sister city in April last year.

The staff exchange programme, the first between Shanghai and Dunedin civic authorities, will occur each year, with a DCC staff member visiting Shanghai next year.

Mayor of Dunedin Dave Cull says, “This staff exchange will create an even stronger bond between the two sister cities. Having staff members see first hand how the other city operates will forge deeper municipal ties as well as closer professional relationships.”

Ms Reid says the staff member who arrives on Monday is Yuan Zhifeng. In her role as Co-ordinator of the Asia and Oceanian Division, Ms Yuan is the DCC’s day-to-day contact person in the Foreign Affairs Office.

While in Dunedin, Ms Yuan will have a varied itinerary. She will be based in the Economic Development Unit and will also spend time with other DCC staff in the Civic Centre and at facilities such as the Dunedin Public Libraries, the Otago Museum and Toitū Otago Settlers Museum. She will also visit schools, tertiary institutions and Tourism Dunedin and spend time with businesses, particularly those with existing links to China.

During her stay, Ms Yuan will also visit popular tourist spots in the city and around the region and attend the 2014 Sister Cities New Zealand Conference in Gore in April.

Under the terms of the staff exchange programme, the city sending the staff member will pay the airfares, and the host city will meet the accommodation and living costs.

ENDS

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