Officials from Ningbo and Macao pose for a group photo at the founding ceremony of a friendship association on Aug 23. [Photo/cnnb.com.cn] 

A new association, with the aim of strengthening Ningbo-Macao ties, was established in Macao on Aug 23.

The Ningbo-Macao friendship association is expected to be a new platform for exchanges and cooperation between the two regions. It will unite Ningbo people living or working in Macao to be actively engaged in economic, cultural and social activities in the special administrative region and encourage them to help promote communication between the two places.

Zheng Shanjie, Party chief of Ningbo, in Zhejiang province, extended his congratulations on the setting up of the new association at the founding ceremony.

"Macao is a vital region of the Pearl River Delta while Ningbo is one of the economic centers of the Yangtze River Delta," said Zheng, "The two have both seen sustainable, rapid and healthy development over the past four decades."

Zheng highly appreciated the increasingly closer ties between Ningbo and Macao and hoped that the new association will further facilitate the bilateral relations. On behalf of the Ningbo government, he pledged the city will provide quality services for visitors and investors from Macao.