On the afternoon of March 22, a ceremony was held virtually for signing the Agreement on the Establishment of Friendly Cooperative Relationship Between the City of Larnaca, Cyprus and the City of Ningbo, China, witnessing the two important port cities along the Maritime Silk Road "joining hands with each other" on the cloud. Li Guanding, Vice Mayor of Ningbo, and Iasonas Iasonides, Vice Mayor of Larnaca, signed the agreement.
On the afternoon of March 22, a ceremony was held virtually for signing the Agreement on the Establishment of Friendly Cooperative Relationship Between the City of Larnaca, Cyprus and the City of Ningbo, China, witnessing the two important port cities along the Maritime Silk Road "joining hands with each other" on the cloud. Li Guanding, Vice Mayor of Ningbo, and Iasonas Iasonides, Vice Mayor of Larnaca, signed the agreement.
Located in southeast Cyprus near the Mediterranean Sea and 37 km away from the capital city Nicosia, Larnaca is the country's third largest city and has the country's largest international airport and second largest seaport. With an urban population of 150,000 or so, Larnaca is also a major industrial city, famous historical and cultural city and seaside resort of Cyprus.
With a history of about 6,000 years of civilization and about 4,000 years of city construction, Larnaca is hailed as a "crossroads of civilizations", and has truly lived up to its name due to the superior port location and abundant natural mineral deposits. As a modern metropolis featuring maritime culture, it is rich in historical and cultural heritage with many historic sites.
This is the fifth pair of cities officially establishing friendly cooperative relationship between China and Cyprus, and also the first pair since President Xi Jinping and President Nicos Anastasiades jointly announced the establishment of the strategic partnership between China and Cyprus.
H.E. Mr. Liu Yantao, the Chinese Ambassador to Cyprus, said that Ningbo's friendly cooperative relationship with Larnaca would open up new areas for China-Cyprus strategic cooperation for development. Though thousands of miles apart, Ningbo and Larnaca both thrived on the sea and were gateways to the world. As famous historical and cultural cities of the world, international transportation hubs as well as bridgeheads for opening-up and development in their home countries, the two cities had modern technology and traditional culture prospering together and economic development and ecological conservation reinforcing each other. The two cities' handshake across the Eurasian continent dovetailed with their future development goals toward jointly building a digital Silk Road of health and green innovation, and was also conducive to the transformation and upgrading of China-Cyprus cooperation.
The establishment of friendly cooperative relationship between the two cities has opened the door for mutual benefit and win-win cooperation. Ningbo will set up a mechanism of regular contact between the two cities' relevant departments of foreign affairs, commerce, culture and so on, and build platforms for enterprises of both sides to promote trade and investment, so as to tap fully into the potential for cooperation and expand economic and trade cooperation.
Mr. Ye Rongzhong, Director General of Ningbo Foreign Affairs Office, and Mr. Jiao Shuanglin, Deputy Director General of Ningbo Foreign Affairs Office, attended the ceremony.
Located at the intersection of Africa, Asia and Europe, Cyprus is an important island country on the Maritime Silk Road. As one of the world's largest places for registration of ships, it is also an important shipping country. Ningbo and Larnaca, as both are important port cities, will support their ports in working together and carrying out exchanges and cooperation in the fields of shipping route development, port-centered industries, shipping logistics, port management and so on. Meanwhile, the two cities will continue to promote exchanges in culture, education, art, sports and tourism, with a view to enhancing mutual understanding and deepening friendship between people of both sides.
