During the Mid-Autumn Festival period, Beijing is a city featured by fresh air, clear weather, and the sweet fragrance of osmanthus. On the morning of September 18, Mario Durán, Mayor of San Salvador Centro, El Salvador led a delegation to Beijing, which marked his first visit to China during his incumbency.
Separated by the vast Pacific Ocean, China and El Salvador have 14 hours of time difference. However, as an old Chinese saying goes, mutual understanding underpins true friendship, and opening hearts to each other increases mutual understanding. The same applies to the relations between cities. The long physical distance has by no means set back friendly cooperation between Beijing and San Salvador. Flying across the Atlantic Ocean and the Eurasian continent for over 30 hours, Mr. Durán arrived in China for the 2024 Beijing Culture Forum, and embarked on a colorful “Beijing City Walk” with his delegation.
Making acquaintance·An encounter shaped by the times
In 2018, China and El Salvador officially established diplomatic relations, opening a new chapter in the bilateral relations between the two countries. As capitals of the two countries, Beijing and San Salvador took the lead in implementing the common understandings between the two heads of state, and signed a MOU on friendly exchanges in 2019, marking the start of bilateral cooperation. In 2024, mutual visits were successfully made by delegations at the municipal level. In his speech delivered at the main forum of the 2024 Beijing Culture Forum, Durán said: “San Salvador finds China a true strategic partner. We believe our concerted efforts in a world full of challenges could help us overcome difficulties and obstacles, and achieve mutual benefits and win-win results.”
Mayor Durán addresses the 2024 Beijing Culture Forum
Mutual understanding·The call of shared missions
Beijing and San Salvador both shoulder responsibilities for livelihood improvement and city governance. In 2019, road sweepers and watering trucks manufactured by Beijing Environment Sanitation Engineering Group Co., Ltd. were introduced to San Salvador. Over the past five years, these environment sanitation equipment made in Beijing has made positive contributions to improving urban environment and boosting city image of San Salvador. Upon arriving in Beijing, Durán headed to the company to see the sanitation vehicles. In front of the autonomous sweepers and compressed garbage trucks, Durán stood for a long time, asking the company leader about equipment parameters, operating area, emission standards, and after-sales services. He expressed his strong confidence in “made in Beijing” as well as his willingness to import more cutting-edge sanitation equipment. Durán also explored buses and other public service vehicles in Beijing.
Exploring environment sanitation equipment
Opening hearts·Mind acts upon mind
At the China Film Festival 2024 recently held in San Salvador, films produced in Beijing including “The Wandering Earth II” gained widespread popularity. The National Library of El Salvador in San Salvador, a China-aided project, quickly became a new landmark since its operation in November, 2023. Durán highly praised it as a top-notch modern library in Latin America, and hoped Chinese hi-tech products could be applied in its neighboring regions.
Introducing El Salvador coffee
El Salvador is famed as “the land of coffee”. Durán visited Beijing Fengtai Vocational High School, where he stepped into the training rooms for coffee roasting, brewing, and tasting, watched students perform latte art, and learned about details about barista training in the coffee studio, with the originally planned one-hour visit being extended to over two hours. Durán expressed his hope to leverage school-enterprise cooperation in talent cultivation, to advance the overall development of coffee industry in San Salvador.
Learning about barista training
Durán had a packed schedule in his short stay in Beijing, which spanned just over 90 hours. Full of energy and enthusiasm, he climbed the Great Wall to admire the lush greenery of Juyong Pass, walked along the Central Axis to experience the grandeur of Beijing’s ancient architecture, and went to Hongqiao Market to select high-quality clothing. Whether it is the stunning historical and cultural heritages, the breathtaking skyline, or the bustling atmosphere in communities has all left a deep impression on the mayor who came from afar.
Early in the morning of September 22, Durán left Beijing by plane. Upon his departure, the moon was glowing in the sky in Beijing, while the sun was shining brightly in San Salvador. “ Long as the journey is, we will reach our destination if we stay the course.” With joint efforts, Beijing and San Salvador are bound to make continuous progress in their friendly exchanges and practical cooperation.
Further Reading
Located in the north of Central America, El Salvador is known as “the land of volcanoes” due to multiple volcanoes within its borders. As the capital of El Salvador, San Salvador is not only the largest city of the country, the economic and cultural center, but also a famous tourism destination in the Caribbean. The incumbent mayor Mario Durán took office in May, 2021, and got reelected in May, 2024 for a three-year term.
Scenery of El Salvador
(Written by: Pacific Rim Affairs Division of Beijing Foreign Affairs Office; Photo by: Beijing Foreign Affairs Office, Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the Republic of El Salvador, and Beijing Fengtai Vocational High School)
