Prince George is making inroads to aligning itself with another Chinese city.
A memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed Friday at city hall with representatives from the visiting Suzhou City, from Anhui Province, China.
"According to the MOU, regular contact will be maintained between the civic leadership and relevant departments of the two sides in order to facilitate consultations and co-operation as well as matters of common concern," said a press release issued by the city.
Suzhou representatives visited Prince George last December and expressed an interest in starting the sister city process, according to the press release. The focus will be on trade, education, culture and technology with the eastern China city particularly interested in buying wood products - such as hemlock and pine - for a new home furnishing and manufacturing zone being constructed in their region.
"Prince George is strategically located on the shortest trade route between Asia-Pacific and U.S. heartland markets and provides an ideal location for transportation, logistics, manufacturing and export operations," Mayor Lyn Hall said, in a press release. "This MOU provides us with a solid base from which to increase understanding among our cities and to establish a mutually profitable long-term relationship."
In 2012, an MOU for a twinning arrangement was signed between Prince George and Jiangmen, China, during a week-long trip to the southern Guangdong province city by then-mayor Shari Green, then-councillors Lyn Hall and Dave Wilbur, city manager Kathleen Soltis and IPG CEO Heather Oland.
Green, then-city manager Beth James and Oland made a return trip to Jiangmen in 2013 and returned hone with the expectation that the formal sister city agreement would be made by a visiting Chinese delegation in 2014. That visit and agreement has yet to occur.
