It has taken 27 years for the Valencia Community to pair up again with another country and another city. In May 2017, the proposal for a new alliance was approved unanimously. The project was directed by the Valencian socialist mayor, Sandra Gómez.

Agreement with Chengdú

The sisterhood is based on an agreement with a Chinese city in full growth and development called Chengdú. It is the capital of the province of Sichuan and is located in the southwest of China. It has 14 million inhabitants and is very famous for its nature reserves and for its pandas. Today, it is known as the Silicon Valley of the Asian country.

Valencia, in need of a new alliance for an international collaboration, has found the perfect partner to develop: Chengdú. The Asian city in full growth, economic and technological, studied its possibilities and took the first step for the sisterhood. In this sense, and with a view to the future, the two cities have united.

Benefits of a sisterhood

These cities, of socialist political scope, see the possibility of growing and making the most of this union. The main benefits that stand out after this twinning are economic, cultural, technological and tourist factors.

It is not an agreement where the two countries only want to take advantage of the attributes of each other, but to work together. That is why the twinning will not be reduced to a mere relationship between municipalities. These two communities have joint missions in the cultural, educational and commercial fields.

Councillor Sandra Gómez explained that, thanks to sisterhood, there will be a beneficial transfer of knowledge, materials and technological tools. She also added that there will be exchanges of university students to intertwine the cultures.

This sisterhood has a lot of economic and commercial weight. The Valencian businesspeople will be able to innovate and enter a new market and expand their borders in China. The same will happen in the case of the Asians, who would have the possibility of expanding the technological market in Valencia and in Spain.

The beneficiaries would not only be those of the private business sector, but also the workers. This will open vacancies for new jobs in both of these two cities with this twinning treaty, so that unemployment will decrease.

Cultural and academic expansion

There will also be new opportunities when it comes to academic matters. Thanks to the fact that both communities will have joint missions, the universities will have a strong presence in this agreement. Students can enjoy a cultural and educational exchange with great potential. Exchanges between Valencian and Asian students can occur and thus they can share the culture and get the most out of the sisterhood.

Representatives of public universities, such as Polytechnic University of Valencia and the University of Valencia, travelled to Chengdú, together with Councillor Gómez to establish the exchange programs. The purpose is that Valencian students can do PhDs and undergraduate degrees in the most important universities of the Asian city. Above all, the students can take advantage of the universities’ academic progress in engineering and technology.

Another benefit of this pact of sisterhood is the promotion of tourism in both of these communities. Valencians can enjoy natural reserves, technology and Chinese progress. Asians, in turn, can delve into the wonders of the Valencian community and take advantage of its connections with the East through the Silk Road.

Team EurochinaBridge.com