The History of
The Sister City Relationship
Wuhan and Christchurch, New Zealand became sister cities on April 4, 2006.
(I) Governmental Activities
In February 2011, a strong earthquake hit Christchurch, causing massive casualties and heavy property losses. Through timely assistance and generous donations, Wuhan further consolidated and enhanced its sister-city relationship with Christchurch.
In November 2014, a delegation from the Wuhan municipal government made a special trip to Christchurch, during which it donated to Christchurch a street lamp as a symbol of supporting the city’s post-disaster reconstruction. This lamp bears the blessings of 10 million Wuhan people to Christchurch citizens and is currently standing in a prominent position in downtown Christchurch.
On March 19-21, 2015, Ms. Lianne Dalziel, Mayor of Christchurch, New Zealand, led a delegation of 18 members from Christchurch’s government and education sector to Wuhan. They called on Wuhan Mayor Wan Yong and discussed the friendly exchanges and cooperation between the two cities in the fields of education, economy and trade in the future. Accompanied by Mayor Wan Yong, they also witnessed the signing of a cooperation agreement between the Wuhan Municipal Education Bureau and Christchurch Educational Association and a plaque exchange ceremony for cooperation in running schools between Jianghan University and New Zealand’s IGQ Golf College.
On August 13, 2015, Hubei Provincial Party Secretary Li Hongzhong met with Christchurch Mayor Ms. Lianne Dalziel, accompanied by a delegation from the Wuhan municipal government led by Hu Lishan, a member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Wuhan Municipal Committee. The Provincial Party Secretary signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the Establishment of Sister-City Partnership between Wuhan City in Hubei Province of the People’s Republic of China and Christchurch in New Zealand with Christchurch Mayor. Later, he attended the Hubei-New Zealand Matchmaking Conference for Project Cooperation, during which he fully exchanged with the Hubei Chamber of Commerce New Zealand, the Chinese Ambassador to New Zealand, the Chinese Consul General in Christchurch, and political and business representatives from Christchurch.
On September 7, 2015, Wuhan Mayor Wan Yong went to Xiamen to attend the first New Zealand China Mayoral Forum and made a speech there. This trip deepened the cooperation between Wuhan and New Zealand in the field of education and strengthened the traditional friendship between the two cities; thus, the two sides could jointly promote comprehensive cooperation in tourism, industry and other fields to realize innovative development. During the forum, Wan Yong also met with Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel. He stated that Wuhan would continue to help Christchurch promote post-disaster reconstruction, deepen educational cooperation and establish a regular cooperation mechanism for horse racing events between the two cities. Great efforts would also be made to continuously expand cooperation with New Zealand in the fields of industry, energy, ecology and environmental protection based on the exchanges and cooperation with Christchurch.
The year 2016 marked the 10th anniversary of the establishment of sister-city relations between the two cities. From April 15 to 20, Vice Mayor of Wuhan Liu Yingzi led a delegation to Christchurch and attended a large-scale Chinese painting exhibition entitled “Chinese Art in Oceania”. The exhibition showed the cultural and artistic style of Wuhan to the people of New Zealand.
In April 2017, the New Zealand China Friendship Society and a delegation from the Christchurch-China Sister Cities Committee paid a visit to Wuhan. Li Pu, deputy director of the Foreign Affairs Office of Wuhan Municipal People’s Government, met with and hosted a banquet for the delegation. The two sides jointly discussed a number of friendly cooperation projects between Wuhan and Christchurch.
In June 2017, the Christchurch municipal government sent two students to Wuhan for the “2017 Wuhan International Friendship City Cultural Summer Camp” held by the city.
From July to December 2017, at the invitation of New Zealand’s Christchurch-China Sister Cities Committee, the Foreign and Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of Wuhan Municipal People’s Government dispatched two staff members to New Zealand in succession for the English learning program sponsored by the Christchurch City Council, to deepen mutual understanding and enhance the friendship between the two sides. This exchange activity improved the ability of the Office staff in using a foreign language, broadened their knowledge and widened their horizons. The two sides hoped to keep this program going on and further deepen bilateral exchanges.
In April 2018, New Zealand’s Christchurch sent personnel to the “2018 Sister-city Government Official Seminar in Wuhan”.
In October 2018, New Zealand’s Christchurch Councillor Mr. Mike Davidson led a delegation to Wuhan to attend the 2018 Forum on Global Production Capacity and Business Cooperation. During his stay in Han Dynasty, he had an exchange and discussion with Li Jun, deputy director of the Foreign Affairs Office of Wuhan Municipal People’s Government, and relevant heads of the municipal bureaus of culture and tourism on the next phase of sister-city cooperation between the two cities.
In mid-November 2018, Chair Bernard Duncan and Vice-Chair Michelle MacWilliam of the Christchurch-China Sister Cities Committee visited China for the “2018 China International Friendship Cities Conference”.
In July 2018 and July 2019, the Christchurch government sent swimming teams to Wuhan for a series of Yangtze River crossing activities.
(II) Non-governmental Activities
On March 10-12, 2015, Wuhan received a delegation of 19 members from its sister city—Christchurch, New Zealand. The delegation visited the Sister-city Exhibition Hall in the Wuhan municipal government, Jiangtan Park and Sister-city Forest. Members of the delegation spoke highly of Wuhan’s development, and this visit deepened the friendship between the two cities and promoted mutual understanding and exchanges.
On April 21, 2016, a delegation of high school students from Canterbury, New Zealand visited the Yangluo Sub-campus of Xinzhou No.1 Middle School in Wuhan.
On September 22, 2016, a delegation of 20 citizens from New Zealand, Christchurch paid a visit to Wuhan. They visited the Sister-city Exhibition Hall in the Wuhan municipal government, Jiangtan Park and Sister-city Forest and viewed the landscape of the city. This visit deepened the friendship between the peoples of the two cities and promoted mutual understanding and exchanges.
On December 16-22, 2016, the Foreign Affairs Office of Wuhan Municipal People’s Government hosted a large-scale photography exhibition titled “Vision · New Zealand” in Wuhan. The Christchurch Photographic Society carefully selected over 100 pieces of outstanding works to show Wuhan people the cultures and landscapes of China and New Zealand in the eyes of New Zealanders.
On January 15-20, 2017, the Bureau of Culture under the Wuhan Municipal People’s Government organized a delegation of 35 people from Wuhan Acrobatic Troupe and Wuhan Theatre of Song and Dance to New Zealand’s South Island for performance. They showed the charm of traditional Chinese culture to the local people, brought warm greetings from the motherland to the local Chinese and overseas Chinese, and effectively assisted the local embassy in handling its external relations work
