Jinan, capital of Shandong province, and Sacramento, capital of California, recently won the US-China Sister Cities Award of Youth Exchange. Jinan and Sacramento become sister cities since 1984, according to the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries.

Jinan-Sacramento Sister Cities Corporation

The award, granted by International Sister Cities, recognizes their contribution in boosting people-to-people ties, especially between youths from the two cities over the past three decades.

2014 is the 30th anniversary of the sister-city relationship between Jinan and Sacramento. A series of exchanges and cooperation in the fields of economy and trade, culture, education, agriculture and sports have been carried out between the two cities over the years.

More then 30 schools in Jinan have held regular cultural and educational exchanges with sister cities in the US.

Li Min, director of the Jinan foreign affairs office, said that many cultural and art activities, as well as student exchange programs, between the two cities have been organized regularly over the past few years, attracting thousands of participants from the two sister cities.

Jinan Children Festival

"Young people hold the key to a better future. Exchanges among them act as an important bridge for enhancing mutual trust and friendship, which plays an irreplaceable role in driving the healthy development of China-US relations," said Li.

Jinan has welcomed growing numbers of visiting students in recent years.

In the past three years, Jinan has successfully sent more than 3,000 middle-school students to participate in the "Inspirational Messages of Peace" Contest, a poetry composition competition held by Sacramento annually.

Two of the Chinese students from Jinan won top prizes in the past. Their works were inscribed on steles that are on display permanently in the World Peace Rose Garden (IWPRG) in the State Capitol Park of Sacramento.

"The cultural exchange will expand their mutual understanding of the world and offer them the opportunity to make new friendships. Understanding and friendship are important ingredients to create peace in the world," said Sylvia Villalobos, president of the IWPRG.

More then 30 schools in Jinan have held regular cultural and educational exchanges with sister cities in the US. Three pairs of them have established friendly ties.

A total of 523 students of the two cities have taken part in the Youth Ambassador Program backed by Jinan-Sacramento Sister Cities Corporation, a non-profit organization founded in 1984 to promote the two cities' friendly ties.

"The program is designed to help participating students from Jinan and Sacramento expand their view of the world, forge friendships through personal interaction, and learn from each other's culture and history," said Grace Liu, president of the Sacramento-based corporation.

The corporation has sponsored Sacramento and Jinan students to visit each other and study in each other's cities every summer since 2006.

"We are delighted to welcome students from Jinan. This is a wonderful example of intercultural and interpersonal exchanges that help foster closer ties between the US and China," said Ewan MacDougall, staff assistant of former US Ambassador to China Gary Locke, who praised the program.

Reported by Wang Qian

Edited by Wang Jingjing