North Carolina is located along the Atlantic coast in the southeastern United States, with Raleigh as its capital and Charlotte as its largest city. It is an important manufacturing and agricultural state in the U.S., with well-developed biotechnology, information technology, auto parts, and financial services industries. It is home to the world-renowned Research Triangle Park, as well as prestigious universities such as Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
(Location of North Carolina)
A fighter plane forges a cross-ocean friendship
In September 1944, Lieutenant Robert Upchurch, a member of the American "Flying Tigers," was killed in action over Hunan’s Guidong County while fighting Japanese forces, in his early twenties. He was born in Moore County, North Carolina.
Guidong people buried him, and voluntarily tended his grave for decades. In 2005, his identity was confirmed through DNA testing. In 2006, Robert's remains returned to his hometown in North Carolina for burial. On the Chinese Qingming Festival (Tomb-Sweeping Day) in 2007, North Carolina State Senator Harris Blake led a delegation to Guidong County to attend the unveiling ceremony of a memorial monument. Soil from both places was placed in a porcelain vase, symbolizing enduring friendship. In 2008, Guidong County and Moore County officially established a friendship county relationship. A children's foundation named after Robert has continued to support impoverished students in Guidong for many years. In 2015, the two places jointly produced the documentary "In Memory of the Flying Tigers," which won the Best Documentary Award at the Davis Film Festival in the United States.
In September 1944, Lieutenant Robert Upchurch, a member of the American "Flying Tigers," was killed in action over Hunan’s Guidong County while fighting Japanese forces, in his early twenties. He was born in Moore County, North Carolina.
Guidong people buried him, and voluntarily tended his grave for decades. In 2005, his identity was confirmed through DNA testing. In 2006, Robert's remains returned to his hometown in North Carolina for burial. On the Chinese Qingming Festival (Tomb-Sweeping Day) in 2007, North Carolina State Senator Harris Blake led a delegation to Guidong County to attend the unveiling ceremony of a memorial monument. Soil from both places was placed in a porcelain vase, symbolizing enduring friendship. In 2008, Guidong County and Moore County officially established a friendship county relationship. A children's foundation named after Robert has continued to support impoverished students in Guidong for many years. In 2015, the two places jointly produced the documentary "In Memory of the Flying Tigers," which won the Best Documentary Award at the Davis Film Festival in the United States.
(Photo of Lieutenant Robert Upchurch)
From grave-sweeping to cloud handshakes: high-level ties never interrupted
In 2007, Senator Blake made a special trip to Hunan to pay respects at Robert's grave, and then Hunan Governor Zhou Qiang met with the delegation. After the freezing disaster in Hunan in 2008, North Carolina initiated a fundraising campaign for disaster relief in Hunan. In 2010, North Carolina's Secretary of Commerce visited Hunan, and signed a memorandum of understanding on economic and trade cooperation with the province. In 2015, then Secretary of the CPC Hunan Provincial Committee Xu Shousheng visited North Carolina, signing a memorandum on friendly relations with the governor and witnessing the signing of a cooperation memorandum between the Research Triangle Institute (RTI), the Department of Science and Technology of Hunan Province, and Yonker Environmental Protection Co., Ltd. to jointly build an environmental technology research center in central China. In February 2022, the first Hunan-North Carolina Online Economic and Trade Cooperation Forum was held to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the friendship province-state ties. Governor Mao Weiming held a video call with then Governor of North Carolina Roy Cooper, and the two sides signed multiple cooperation agreements. In 2023, then Vice Governor of Hunan Province Qin Guowen visited the United States and met with the President Pro Tempore of the North Carolina Senate and leaders of North Carolina State University to promote cooperation in education, healthcare, and technology.
In 2007, Senator Blake made a special trip to Hunan to pay respects at Robert's grave, and then Hunan Governor Zhou Qiang met with the delegation. After the freezing disaster in Hunan in 2008, North Carolina initiated a fundraising campaign for disaster relief in Hunan. In 2010, North Carolina's Secretary of Commerce visited Hunan, and signed a memorandum of understanding on economic and trade cooperation with the province. In 2015, then Secretary of the CPC Hunan Provincial Committee Xu Shousheng visited North Carolina, signing a memorandum on friendly relations with the governor and witnessing the signing of a cooperation memorandum between the Research Triangle Institute (RTI), the Department of Science and Technology of Hunan Province, and Yonker Environmental Protection Co., Ltd. to jointly build an environmental technology research center in central China. In February 2022, the first Hunan-North Carolina Online Economic and Trade Cooperation Forum was held to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the friendship province-state ties. Governor Mao Weiming held a video call with then Governor of North Carolina Roy Cooper, and the two sides signed multiple cooperation agreements. In 2023, then Vice Governor of Hunan Province Qin Guowen visited the United States and met with the President Pro Tempore of the North Carolina Senate and leaders of North Carolina State University to promote cooperation in education, healthcare, and technology.
(Roy Cooper, then governor of North Carolina, delivers a video address at the online economic and trade cooperation forum.)
Friendship city network expands across provincial, municipal, and lower levels
In 2008, Guidong County and Moore County established a friendship county relationship. In 2010, Zhijiang County and Pinehurst established a friendship city relationship. In 2012, Zhuzhou City and Durham City established a friendship city relationship, and several schools in Zhuzhou also became sister schools with the counterparts in Durham, conducting multiple mutual visits and homestay programs. The CCPIT Changsha Branch and the Charlotte Regional Economic Development Committee, as well as the CCPIT Zhuzhou Branch and the Durham Chamber of Commerce, have also established cooperative relationships, forming a pattern of "the province and state set the stage, and the cities and counties perform."
Solid achievements in economic, trade, and technological cooperation
In terms of science and technology, the environmental technology research center jointly established in 2015 has promoted cooperation in air pollution control and heavy metal remediation. In 2017, the Hunan-North Carolina Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center was established, and the Hunan-North Carolina International Innovation Center was officially launched, focusing on industries such as intelligent manufacturing and high-end equipment, and bringing in innovative resources from North Carolina. At the 2022 online economic and trade forum, the two sides reached multiple agreements in areas such as advanced manufacturing, agricultural technology, and biomedicine.
From a fighter plane crashing in the flames of war, to a soil mixing ceremony, and cloud handshakes at online forums—the story of Hunan and North Carolina continues, writing new chapters in daily exchanges of economy, trade, technology, and education.
Chinese source: Foreign Affairs Office of the Hunan Provincial People's Government
Friendship city network expands across provincial, municipal, and lower levels
In 2008, Guidong County and Moore County established a friendship county relationship. In 2010, Zhijiang County and Pinehurst established a friendship city relationship. In 2012, Zhuzhou City and Durham City established a friendship city relationship, and several schools in Zhuzhou also became sister schools with the counterparts in Durham, conducting multiple mutual visits and homestay programs. The CCPIT Changsha Branch and the Charlotte Regional Economic Development Committee, as well as the CCPIT Zhuzhou Branch and the Durham Chamber of Commerce, have also established cooperative relationships, forming a pattern of "the province and state set the stage, and the cities and counties perform."
Solid achievements in economic, trade, and technological cooperation
In terms of science and technology, the environmental technology research center jointly established in 2015 has promoted cooperation in air pollution control and heavy metal remediation. In 2017, the Hunan-North Carolina Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center was established, and the Hunan-North Carolina International Innovation Center was officially launched, focusing on industries such as intelligent manufacturing and high-end equipment, and bringing in innovative resources from North Carolina. At the 2022 online economic and trade forum, the two sides reached multiple agreements in areas such as advanced manufacturing, agricultural technology, and biomedicine.
From a fighter plane crashing in the flames of war, to a soil mixing ceremony, and cloud handshakes at online forums—the story of Hunan and North Carolina continues, writing new chapters in daily exchanges of economy, trade, technology, and education.
Chinese source: Foreign Affairs Office of the Hunan Provincial People's Government
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