On April 28, Zhang Jiandong, Vice Mayor of Beijing and Executive Vice President of the Beijing 2022 Organizing Committee, attended the China-US Sister Cities Conference co-hosted by the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC) and the Sister Cities International (SCI) from the United States via video links. Qin Gang, Chinese Ambassador to the United States, Lin Songtian, President of the CPAFFC, Terry Branstad, former U.S. Ambassador to China, and David Toland, Lieutenant Governor of the State of Kansas, attended the event and delivered speeches. In total, over 300 people from all walks of life in China and the United States attended the event. Representatives from governments, parliaments, people's congresses and sister city committees of nine provincial-level regions in China and nine states in the United States delivered speeches.

Mr. Zhang Jiandong delivers a speech

Zhang reviewed sports exchanges and cooperation between Beijing and American cities such as New York and Irvine in recent years. He stressed that the venues of Beijing Winter Olympics are now ready for the post-Games use and Beijing would actively draw on the experience of other host cities of Winter Olympics, including those from the United States, so as to work out a plan in "post-Games" era, fully translate the Games' legacy into a strong driver of the capital's development in the new era and carry forward the glory of Beijing, the Dual Olympic city.

Salt Lake City, Utah was the host of the 2002 Winter Olympics. Jeff Robbins, CEO of Utah Sports Commission, praised China for successfully hosting the Beijing Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games despite the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. He also expressed his willingness to share with Beijing the experience in sustainable post-Olympic utilization of Winter Olympic venues in the past 20 years. Besides, since Salt Lake City has officially bid for the 2030 Winter Olympics, he hoped to further strengthen exchanges and cooperation with Beijing in the future in such fields as Games preparation, venue construction and athlete training.

The China-US Sister Cities Conference

In 2014, the CPAFFC and the SCI co-founded the China-US Sister Cities Conference, which has been successfully held four times in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2019 respectively. Now, the conference has become an important platform for the communication and exchanges between sub-national governments of China and the United States, playing an active role in promoting the development of China-US sister city ties, enhancing friendship and mutual trust between the two sides and consolidating the practical cooperation between sub-national governments of the two countries.

(Photo Credit: the CPAFFC and Beijing Foreign Affairs Office)