NEAR Secretary-General Lim Byung-jin attended the group meeting and welcome banquet (June 10) as well as the opening ceremony (June 11) of the 「3rd Liaoning International Friendship Cities Conference」, held on June 10–11.
The group meeting for major participants brought together numerous high-level officials from China and abroad.
▲On the Chinese side, attendees included Xu Kunlin (许昆林), Secretary of the CPC Liaoning Provincial Committee; Wang Xinwei (王新伟), Governor of Liaoning Province; Zhou Bo (周波), Chairman of the CPPCC Liaoning Provincial Committee; Zhao Cheng (赵承), Member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Liaoning Provincial Committee and Head of the Publicity Department; Zhang Shuping (张淑萍), Deputy Director of the Standing Committee of the Liaoning Provincial People's Congress; Vice Governors Wang Libo (王利波), Wu Chungeng (吴春耕), and Gu Jun (顾军); Jiang Jiang (姜江), Vice President of the China International Friendship Cities Association (former Vice President of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries); and mayors of all 14 prefecture-level cities in Liaoning Province, including Shenyang and Dalian.
▲Among the international participants were the Governor of Tuv Province, Mongolia, the guest of honor; the Governor of West Kazakhstan Region; the Governor of West Flanders Province, Belgium; and the Chairperson of the Silesian Regional Assembly of Poland, together with representatives of regional governments from many countries. Also in attendance were ambassadors to China from five countries including Korea, Hungary, Serbia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe as well as NEAR Secretary-General, Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN, deputy governors from Mongolia and Kazakhstan, consul-general in Shenyang, and numerous diplomatic representatives.
During the group meeting, Secretary Xu Kunlin delivered welcoming remarks, followed by a response from Governor of Tuv Province. Secretary Xu emphasized that Liaoning Province has established friendly relations with 96 sister-city partnerships in 32 countries, promoting mutual development. He also introduced Liaoning's recent achievements, highlighting the province's integrated efforts in education, technology, and talent development to foster new quality productive forces.
At the opening ceremony held on June 11, Party Secretary Xu Kunlin delivered a welcoming address, emphasizing, "Liaoning Province is firmly promoting high-level opening up to the outside world and continues to expand its international network." He expressed his congratulations on the hosting of the conference and highlighted that "moving forward, we will cultivate cooperation partnerships among sister cities through educational exchange, technological collaboration, cultural sharing and co-development."
In addition, Zhang Xiang, Vice President of the China International Friendship Cities Association; Governor of the West Kazakhstan Region of Kazakhstan; Governor of West Flanders Province of Belgium; and Ro Jae-hun, Korean Ambassador to China, among others, delivered congratulatory remarks emphasizing the importance of cooperation between local governments.
Following this, Wang Xinwei, Governor of Liaoning Province, led a special briefing on the province's economic status and growth potential, actively inviting global partners to invest and calling for the expansion of practical economic and technological cooperation.
The opening ceremony also featured the signing of several friendship agreements, including a sister-region agreement between Liaoning Province and Tuv Province, Mongolia, as well as friendship cooperation agreements among regional governments in Kazakhstan and Serbia. In addition, 12 MOUs were signed in the fields of education and technology.
During the opening ceremony and the welcome banquet, Secretary-General Lim met with Secretary Xu Kunlin, Governor Wang Xinwei, Vice Governor Wu Chungeng, and Vice President Jiang Jiang to express his sincere appreciation for Liaoning Province's outstanding service as NEAR Chair Government last year and for successfully hosting this year's NEAR Digital Economy Subcommittee meeting. He also requested their continued interest in and support for NEAR.
Secretary-General Lim also talked with Bakytnur Bakytuly, Deputy Governor of Almaty Region, Kazakhstan; Naraya Soeprapto, Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN; and Prak Thaveak Amida, Under Secretary of the Information Ministry of Cambodia. He introduced NEAR's mission and vision, encouraged them to consider Associate Membership, and exchanged views on strengthening cooperation between ASEAN and NEAR at the regional government level.
In addition, he met with Noh Jae-hyun, Korean Ambassador to China; Kim Sung-min, Korean Consul General in Shenyang; and Russian Consul General in Shenyang, among other diplomatic representatives, to brief them on NEAR's recent activities and seek their continued interest in and support for the organization.
Secretary-General Lim also gave interviews to local media outlets, including the Liaoning Daily and the Liaoning International Communication Center (LICC). In the interviews, he shared his impressions of participating in both the Liaoning International Friendship Cities Conference and the NEAR Digital Economy Subcommittee meeting. He highly praised Liaoning Province's rapid progress in the digital economy and scientific and technological innovation, its continuous efforts to improve the business environment, and its active expansion of international exchanges.
The Liaoning International Friendship Cities Conference is an international event established to strengthen friendship and cooperation between Liaoning Province and regional governments around the world while promoting regional revitalization through the development of new quality productive forces and greater openness and cooperation. This year's conference marked its third edition. Held under the theme "Smart Liaoning, Together with Friendship Cities (智汇辽宁，友城同行)," the conference brought together hundreds of participants, including representatives of friendship cities and regions from more than 50 countries, diplomatic missions in China, consuls general in Shenyang, and hundreds of representatives from academia, science and technology, and the business community.