The coastal city of Yantai in East China's Shandong province makes concrete efforts to enhance cooperative ties with its international sister cities and cooperative cities. [Photo/Xuexi Qiangguo app]

The coastal city of Yantai in East China's Shandong province has established international sister-city ties and cooperative relationships with 47 cities in 23 countries and regions, enlarging the city's "circle of friends."

"Yantai has made use of its advantages in foreign affairs to promote practical cooperation between itself and its sister cities in cultural exchanges, educational exchanges and economic cooperation," stated Wan Hong, an official of the city's foreign affairs office.

To promote its cooperative ties with countries and regions in northern Europe, Yantai has organized different trips that focused on its 16 key industrial chains, and invited envoys from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and other Nordic countries to visit. This deepened the city's ties with Nordic countries in fields such as marine fishery, ocean engineering equipment, green and low-carbon construction, intelligent manufacturing, and digitization.

Supported by the Norwegian Embassy in China and the Norwegian National Agency for Innovation, the Sino-Norway Center for International Cooperation is now under construction, and is expected to be a gathering place for emerging enterprises from not only Norway, but also other parts of northern Europe.

In the future, the Sino-Norway Marine Innovation Center, and a marine innovation joint laboratory will also be established in Yantai. They are both expected to speed up technology transfer, and promote the commercialization of scientific and technological advances among enterprises.

Since this year, Yantai has made concrete efforts to further deepen international exchanges and cooperation with its sister cities, aiming to promote practical cooperation in industries such as wine, port construction, culture and tourism, education and other fields.