Osmeña inks sister city ties with Chengdu

CEBU, Philippines - Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña has established a sisterhood relationship with the city of Chengdu in China after signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Chengdu City Mayor Lou Qiang, last Wednesday.

In a press conference, Osmeña said they have not discussed any specific project yet but he is hopeful that Chengdu would be able to provide assistance to Cebu City.

“It was suggested to me and then of course we have a very big presence of Chinese community here...I don’t know yet (referring to possible project), there’s no initial discussion about it,” he told reporters.

Osmeña went to Chengdu on May 8 and 9 to discuss sisterhood ties at the invitation of Chengdu officials.

In the signed MOU, it was stipulated that both parties should enhance the mutual understanding and friendship between the two countries, agree to establish friendly cooperative relations based on the principles of equality and mutual benefit, and cooperate to develop education, culture, tourism and agriculture.

Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office head Nagiel Bañacia and Vice Director-General of Chengdu in Municipal Foreign and Overseas Affairs Office, Lyu Tianyi served as witnesses for the signing event.

Chengdu is a city with more than 2,300 years of history and is among the 24 historical and cultural cities published by the State Council of the People’s Republic of China.

Chengdu is Cebu City’s second sister city in China next to Xiamen.  (FREEMAN)