The 2018 Hunan-America Friendly Exchange Week opens in Changsha Oct 22. [Photo by Liu Zhuozhi/chinanews.com]

The 2018 Hunan-America Friendly Exchange Week began in Changsha Oct 22, with representatives of international twin cities and Hunan province's US enterprises discussing interactions between the two sides in recent years and further cooperation.

The four-day event is held by the Foreign Affairs (Overseas Chinese Affairs) Office of Hunan Provincial People's Government. The delegates will visit Hunan Library, Hunan North Carolina International Innovation Center and several enterprise parks to learn about the province’s social and economic development and achievements in carrying out international friendship city exchanges, and to look for opportunities for future cooperation.

Mark Goodvillie, chairman of Durham-Zhuzhou Committee, said at the opening ceremony that the two sides can strengthen cooperation by promoting official visits of schools, clubs and sports teams, encouraging people of the two places to make friends online, and carrying out exchanges on food, environmental protection and music.

Vincent Matthew, a New Yorker who has lived in Hunan for 10 years, shared his entrepreneurial experience at the opening ceremony. His company promotes US companies on Chinese social media. He said that Hunan has great business potential.

Ye Jinsong, deputy director of Foreign Affairs (Overseas Chinese Affairs) Office of Hunan Provincial People's Government, said that Hunan province has established 84 pairs of international sister cities, of which the United States has the most with 16 pairs.

Cooperation between Hunan and US states including North Carolina, Georgia and Colorado covers fields such as science and technology, energy, environmental protection and education. It has achieved remarkable results with several Hunan enterprises going to sister cities for construction projects.

Ye said that Hunan-America Exchange Week has become an important platform for cooperation between the province and its sister cities.

In addition, Hunan province has set up a mechanism for the deployment of sister cities and plans to permanent foreign personnel in Hunan in the future.