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Agreement signed between Chinese city and Lucea

Published:Wednesday | July 24, 2019 | 12:07 AMBryan Miller/Gleaner Writer
Lucea’s Mayor Sheridan Samuels (third right) and  Wang Bin (fourth right), vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of Huangshi  Municipal Congress of the People’s Republic of China, exchanging signed documents formalising the friendship deal between the Hanover Municipal Corporation and the Huangshi Municipal People’s Congress of China. Councillors and members of the visiting Chinese delegation look on.
Lucea’s Mayor Sheridan Samuels (third right) and Wang Bin (fourth right), vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of Huangshi Municipal Congress of the People’s Republic of China, exchanging signed documents formalising the friendship deal between the Hanover Municipal Corporation and the Huangshi Municipal People’s Congress of China. Councillors and members of the visiting Chinese delegation look on.

Western Bureau:

The town of Lucea in Hanover and the Huangshi Municipal People’s Congress of China cemented their friendship on Monday with the signing of a friendly cooperative cities agreement. Representatives from the Hanover Municipal Corporation (HMC), and their counterparts from the Huangshi Municipal People’s Congress of China participated in the ceremony.

The signing ceremony, which took place at the Hanover Municipal Corporation, saw Lucea Mayor Sheridan Samuels signing on behalf of Lucea, while Wang Bin, the vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of Huangshi Municipal People’s Congress of China, signed on behalf of his city.

“We have some of the best and largest hotels and we are blessed with some of the smartest minds who, after graduating, migrate to other parishes or other countries because of job opportunities,” said Samuels. “I hope one day we can boast about having a Chinese hotel here in Hanover.”

The document-signing exercise was the culmination of several months of negotiations between the HMC and the city of Huangshi. Representatives from the Chinese city previously visited Lucea but a planned return visit by representatives from the HMC did not materialise.

The city of Huangshi is the second-largest city in the Hubei Province of China with a population of approximately 2.7 million people. Huangshi is a vibrant industrial and commercial city with an important harbour along the Yangtze River.

According to Samuels, the Chinese businesses in Hanover are an integral part of the community and he hopes that the ties with the city of Huangshi would further strengthen their relationship.

“The Chinese businesses operating in the parish of Hanover are some of the warmest, kindest, and friendliest Chinese business operators,” said Samuels.

In his address, Wang Bin outlined some of the possible benefits to Hanover from the agreement. He emphasised that cooperation and friendship between the communities are important as the people of the communities can learn from each other.

He expressed the hope that representatives from Hanover would make the reciprocal visit to China.