Ningbo, Masuda to strengthen ties

Ningbo in East China's Zhejiang province and Masuda in Japan held a video conference on Dec 20 to mark the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the friendly exchange relations.

Zhu Huan, vice mayor of Ningbo, said that this year marks the 50th anniversary of the normalization of China-Japan diplomatic relations and also the beginning of a new journey for Ningbo and Masuda to advance bilateral links.

"We are ready to work with Masuda to renew our original aspiration and promote friendly exchanges," Zhu added.

Yamamoto Hiroaki, mayor of Masuda, expressed hope that Masuda and Ningbo will continue to maintain trust and friendly exchanges, develop together in various fields and make the bilateral partnership between the two cities “as solid as a rock”.

"I sincerely hope that in the near future, the exchanges between the two cities in economy, trade, culture and other aspects will be deeper and dynamic," Hiroaki said.