A Chinese delegation from Haikou have opened an exhibition at Perth Concert Hall in the hope of expanding economic and cultural ties between the twinned cities.
The two cities have been joined for 28 years and an extra push is being made by officials to strengthen the bonds as the 30th anniversary approaches with tourism high on the agenda for both parties.
The new exhibition explores the culture of the island province of Hainan, of which Haikou is the capital, and runs until Sunday.
Perth Provost Dennis Melloy welcomed Lin Haining, Standing Member of the CPC Haiku Municipal Committee, and other delegates from the Chinese city.
The Provost said: “Because of the large Chinese community we have here there is a great affinity between here and Haikou.
“We want to promote Perth and they want to promote Haikou and it’s all tourism based.
“There is this tie that we have and we try to keep this friendship going across the water.”
Mr Haining reflected the Provost thoughts as he extended an invitation for Perth and Kinross officials to again visit his city in the near future.
He said: “Perth is the first twinned city for Haikou in Europe.
“We became twinned cities 28 years ago so in two years time we will celebrate our 30th anniversary.
“Over the last 28 years Haikou and Perth have collaborated in areas of economic, cultural and social aspects.
“In approaching the 30th anniversary we would like to continue and deepen our collaboration in these areas.”
Mr Haining hoped the exhibition would help the people of Perth better understand Haikou and what it has to offer.
He said: “In recent years Haikou has made economic, social and cultural developments and we like to use this show to display our successes and achievements over the last 20 years and we would like to show these achievements to the people of Perth.”
A delegation from Perth and Kinross Council last visited Haikou in 2011 and Mr Haining is keen to see another expedition happen soon.
He said: “We’re going to reach our 30th anniversary so it’s a very special time and we would like to invite more dignitaries of Perth to visit Haikou.
“In the past, four Provosts of Perth have visited so we would definitely to see the Provost in Haikou.
“We feel that if we could have more visits from city council representatives it would be beneficial to our friendship.
“Experiencing is believing so if we can carry out future reciprocal visits it will be very beneficial to deepen our friendship and relationship.”
