Mayoral Delegation signs Key MoUs in Qingdao

Qingdao (Tuesday, 28 October 2014) – Dunedin now has an official city relationship with Chinese city Qingdao.

In Qingdao last week, Mayor of Dunedin Dave Cull and Mayor Zhang Xinqi signed the Friendly Co-operative Relations Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two cities.

Mr Cull says, “The Economic Cooperation Agreement signed with Qingdao last year has already borne fruit in increased volumes. This new agreement expands the areas of engagement to include education, tourism, and even health care and will enable broader interaction between our two communities.”

“Along with the other agreements signed by our University and Polytechnic, this memorandum deepens both the cities commitment to increased interaction and cooperation”.

Qingdao is a port city that lies within eastern China’s Shandong Province. It has a population of about eight million. Qingdao is known for its ‘blue economy’ of ocean-related industries, widely seen as the commercial future of the city.

A delegation representing Dunedin’s civic, educational and business interests, including tourism were in Qingdao for meetings and MoU signings for three days last week. The delegation now is in Shanghai for a week of meetings there.

As well as the Friendly Co-operative Relations MoU, a MoU between Enterprise Dunedin and the Qingdao Tourism Bureau was also signed. This MoU is intended to encourage outbound tourism agents from both cities to develop holiday itineraries involving each other’s regions, and to share trade-related information.

Qingdao University, Otago Polytechnic and the University of Otago respectively signed a Letter of Intention to build relationships based around the Polytechnic’s strengths in fashion and textiles, and the University’s marine, dental and medical science expertise. University representatives also met with people from Qingdao’s Ocean University of China – a prominent marine science university.

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