Two of the bigger winners in the trade deals were the Shandong Yonghe Precise Metals Co Ltd, which collected 10 million euros ($13.3 million) worth of orders, and the Shandong Huali Electric Motor Co Ltd, whose orders amounted to 30 million euros ($40 million).

In addition to the successful trade connections, the sister-city programs have led to technological exchanges.

So far, more than 2,000 foreign experts have come to work in Shandong, providing important agricultural and engineering information.

And, around 150 foreign experts have been awarded the Qilu Friendship Prize, the most prestigious provincial government award for expats who have made a great contribution in Shandong.

There have also been some more fruitful cooperative relations established at the grassroots level in education, the media and medical care.

The province has also held more than 40 Confucius festivals and 50 Shandong Culture Week events in participating foreign countries.

As part of this, Shandong has donated statues of Confucius to sister cities, such as Wakayama, in Japan, Bahia, in Brazil and Germany's Bavaria to strengthen the friendship.

In the area of conferences, the province has cooperated with Bavaria in Germany, Upper Austria, the Western Cape in South Africa, Quebec in Canada, the state of Georgia in the United States and Sao Paulo in Brazil to establish a summit to discuss affairs on common interest.

This forum has been held five times so far.

By Ju Chuanjiang and Zhao Ruixue (China Daily)

(China Daily 11/30/2011 page24)