Mission to China by St. Louis Sister Cities Delegation Generates Positive Results
By Robert R. Heuermann, Jr. - Executive Director - St. Louis Center for International Relations
Establishing a new St. Louis Sister Cities affiliation in Wuhan, China, and celebrating the 25th anniversary of the St. Louis-Nanjing Sister Cities program generated tangible benefits for St. Louis delegates recently on an 8-day mission to China - and new opportunities for the St. Louis region.
St. Louis Mayor Francis G. Slay led the Sister Cities delegation with Dr. Joel Glassman, Associate Provost at the University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL) and Director of its Center for International Studies. St. Louis Center for International Relations and World Trade Center Saint Louis executives joined 15 local business and community leaders on the mission.
Dr. Glassman, President of the St. Louis-Nanjing Sister Cities Committee, asserts, "In Nanjing, two important agreements were signed. One was the official agreement to establish a joint MBA program between UMSL and Nanjing University, one of China's top universities. We are now recruiting for the program which will begin in Fall 2005, enabling students to study one year at UMSL and one year at Nanjing University to earn their MBA.
"The second progressive event for the delegation in Nanjing was signing an agreement to officially establish collaboration between Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University Medical Center in St. Louis with Drum Tower Hospital, Nanjing's leading medical center. This agreement opens official dialogues and will support collaborative exchange among medical researchers and physicians," Dr. Glassman says.
"China needs highly-educated doctors and business executives, as we do here in the United States. We are very excited about this new medical
center collaboration and MBA program," Dr. Glassman says.
St. Louis-Nanjing was First Sister Cities Program in China
The St. Louis-Nanjing Sister Cities program was created in 1979 when St. Louis became the first U.S. municipality to have a Sister City
connection in the People's Republic of China. Since then, many productive education, business and cultural exchanges have occurred.
Nanjing is the capital city of Jiangsu province in southeast China. Its population approaches 5 million people. As transportation hub
for the Yangzi River delta region, Nanjing is China's biggest inland river port. It also is a center for research and manufacturing in
electronics, information technology, machine components, food processing, auto components and petrochemicals. Because of its rich history,
architecture, museums and international airport, Nanjing is a popular tourist destination.
On the mission, the St. Louis delegation celebrated the 25 th anniversary at a banquet hosted by Nanjing's Mayor Jiang Hongkun.
Among others, the delegation met with Wang Haoliang, Vice Party Secretary; Hu Xujian, Chairman - Municipal People's Congress; Sun Jiaxing, Director-General - Foreign Affairs Office; Chen Hua, Deputy Director-General - Foreign Affairs Office; and Xia Yan of the Foreign Affairs Office, who is responsible for the Sister City relationship. In addition to the official delegation, more than a dozen members of the St. Louis-Nanjing Sister Cities Committee traveled to China to enjoy the 25 th anniversary celebration.
Dr. Glassman, who first visited China in 1978, says, "This mission was a wonderful opportunity to visit old and new friends while strengthening bonds between our communities.
There is great potential and expectation in both Nanjing and St. Louis for more productive exchange in education and business."
Wuhan Visit Prompts Chinese Mission to St. Louis
In Wuhan, St. Louis' delegation met many Chinese officials to confirm the new Sister Cities relationship. St. Louis Mayor Slay and Wuhan Mayor Li Xiansheng signed the official memorandum establishing the program. The delegation also met with Qin Jun, Director - Foreign Affairs Office and He Wei, Vice Director - Foreign Affairs Office . Patrick Stokes, President and CEO of St. Louis-based Anheuer-Busch Companies, Inc., which operates the Budweiser International Brewing Co. Ltd. in Wuhan, attended the ceremony. While in China, Mr. Stokes announced that Budweiser will be the official "international beer sponsorh to support the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.
"China is the most important international market for Anheuser-Busch, and Budweiser's sponsorship of the 2008 Olympic Games reinforces our commitment to supporting communities where we do business," Mr. Stokes said.
Already, the new St. Louis-Wuhan Sister Cities link has generated meaningful dialogues between government and commerce officials in both cities.
In November, 2004, St. Louis Center for International Relations and World Trade Center Saint Louis staff met with Wuhan government officers who traveled to St. Louis for business tours. These included the Deputy Directors of Wuhan's Foreign Affairs Office, Trade Promotion Council, Commerce Bureau, Development & Planning Committee, plus Wuhan's Deputy Mayor and other Chinese officials. All in the delegation were impressed by what they saw in St. Louis, and asserted their interest in growing trade, educational and cultural exchange.
Wuhan, with a population of about 4 million people, is capital of the Hubei province in central China. It is a center for railroad and auto industries, plus textiles, cement, glass, fertilizer pharmaceuticals, paper, electronics and food processing. Located where the Han and Chang Rivers meet, it is home to Wuhan University and Central China Technical University, among others. China's main north-south railroad tracks through the city, and Wuhan's port serves ocean vessels, even though the city is 600 miles from the South China Sea.
Reciprocal Benefits Can't Be Denied
The St. Louis delegation also met with Chinese political and business officials in Shanghai and Qingdao. The most obvious "first impressionh everywhere: China's landscape in every city is hugely marked by construction sites, massive industrial cranes and workmen building new skyscrapers to multiply those already there, plus seemingly endless factory districts and, also, dense traffic from cars, trucks and bicycles.
"Growth frenzy" may be the best term to describe China's booming urban economy. The Chinese government favors moving 400 million people to its cities from provinces by 2030. New roads, housing, offices and infrastructure are necessary to handle the migration. The Chinese are wasting no time building them.
For reasons like this, the reciprocal value and positive impact of Sister Cities programs in China cannot be denied. The Chinese people truly seek new friends in America so they may benefit from business, education and cultural synergies - plus citizen diplomacy initiatives that Sister Cities programs nurture.
St. Louis Center for International Relations values this approach. We heartily welcome Wuhan as a Sister City and congratulate the St. Louis-Nanjing Sister Cities program for 25 consecutive years of success.
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