Comprised of 29 foreign and domestic delegations, the 2009 Hangzhou International Sister City Mayors Conference officially opened today at 9:00 am at the Shangri-la Hotel.

Hangzhou Mayor Cai Qi made a speech at the opening ceremony.

Echoing the theme of this year’s conference “City and Culture”, Hangzhou Mayor Cai Qi made a speech at the opening ceremony, mentioning four important points: Culture is the soul of a city and a city is the symbol of culture; more frequent and deeper communication between cities in governmental and non-governmental levels should be reached; cultural construction could intensify city image and improve people’s spiritual living; such a mayor conference should extend its function in deeper culture exchange.

Mayor of Dresden Helma Orosz, Vice mayor of Kaikou Han Mei and General Consul Majintha Jayesinghe also gave speeches at the ceremony, introducing their current situations and future planning on the culture creative industry and traditional culture protection.

By Chen Saiyan