City mayor Ying meets Rotterdam counterpart

Ying Yong, mayor of Shanghai, met Ahmed Aboutaleb, mayor of Rotterdam, the Netherlands, in Shanghai yesterday, and the two leaders signed a new round of memoranda on friendly cooperation between the two cities.

China-Netherlands relations have maintained healthy and steady growth in recent years. This year marks 40th anniversary of the establishment of sister-city ties, and Shanghai and Rotterdam have carried out a series of fruitful cooperation and exchanges in the areas of economy, harbor affairs and urban renovations, Ying noted.

At present, Shanghai is pushing ahead with the construction of an international center for economy, finance, trade, shipping and scientific innovations, creating a metropolis of culture and further expanding the opening-up and reforms. With the signing of the memoranda, Shanghai will further deepen cooperation with Rotterdam for the benefit of the two peoples and the city welcomes Rotterdam to participate in the upcoming 10th China Flower Expo to be held on Chongming Island in 2021, he added.

Mayor Aboutaleb recalled that during the past 40 years the two cities have had friendly cooperation and exchanges in many areas. Rotterdam wishes to expand areas and forms of cooperation and achieve mutually beneficial development, he said.

Ying and Aboutaleb witnessed the signing of agreements between the Shanghai Federation of Industry and Commerce, the Council for the Promotion of International Trade Shanghai, Zhangjiang Science City and the Rotterdam Trade and Investment Agency.

Wang Zhixiong, vice chairman of the CPPCC Shanghai Committee and chairman of the Shanghai Federation of Industry and Commerce, and Remco Johannes van Wijngaadern, Dutch consul general in Shanghai, were also present.