A memorandum of understanding was signed on Wednesday evening to
renew friendly relations between Shanghai and San Francisco during
the visit of a delegation from the US city.
Shanghai Mayor Han
Zheng and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom signed the
Memorandum of Understanding for Projects of Exchange and Mutual
Benefit between San Francisco and Shanghai (2006-2007) and over 100
delegation members and local officials attended the ceremony.
According to the memorandum, they will cooperate in business,
culture and arts, sports, education, governments, social exchanges,
legal exchanges and tourism.
During a visit by former San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein in
January 1980, the two cities agreed to establish friendly
relations, and Feinstein, now a US Senator, and Newsom led the
current delegation.
Chen
Liangyu, member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party
of China (CPC) Central Committee and secretary of the CPC Shanghai
Municipal Committee, met the delegation.
Feinstein said she still remembered clearly how Shanghai looked
25 years ago.
"There were no high-rises and Pudong was full of farmland," she
said, adding that Shanghai then was "a sleeping giant, and today no
modern cities grow more quickly."
During the visit, the delegation visited Fudan University,
Shanghai City Planning Exhibition Center and Yuyuan Garden.
Newsom also spoke to Shanghai business people about San
Francisco's investment environment and took part in a friendly
basketball game with primary school students.
(Xinhua News Agency December 1, 2005)