On December 2, Zhangjiajie Mayor Liu Ge’an and Mayor of Luang Prabang City, Laos Mr. Chansouk Phandolack signed an agreement online establishing friendship city relations between the two cities.

Relations between the two started when a Zhangjiajie government delegation visited Laos in May 2017. In December 2019, the vice mayor of Luang Prabang City participated in the annual Silk Road Urban Alliance meeting in Zhangjiajie. A letter of intent to establish friendship city relations was reached then. Earlier this year, inter-city visits were suspended due to COVID-19. The mayors of both sides kept in touch via mails. Luang Prabang City contributed funds to Zhangjiajie to assist its COVID-19 fight. 

Zhangjiajie and Luang Prabang City are UNESCO World Heritage locations, and have a high degree of mutual complementarity in tourism, economy, trade, culture, and education. Establishing friendship city relations begins another phase in their cooperation. Zhangjiajie currently has international friendship city relations with six cities – Hadong County, South Korea; Santa Fe, U.S.A; Naruto, Japan; Koka, Japan; Aix-les-Bains, France; and, Luang Prabang City, Laos. 

This article is from Hunan Provincial Government www.enghunan.gov.cn.

Translator: Pang Yuehui 

Chinese source: hunan.voc.com.cn