Members of a Gunnedah tour to China to investigate the possibility of a Sister City arrangement with the Linhe District are due to return to Gunnedah today.
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Gunnedah Shire Council mayor Owen Hasler said the Sister City relationship was a “likely outcome” of the visit.
“By the end of our three days in the area, we were receiving very positive indications of support for the Sister City program from senior Linhe District officials LiLi, Wang Zhaosheng (acting mayor), Zhang Jun (deputy chief of Capital Attracting Bureau), Yang Yongxiong (first vice-mayor), and Xu Jingjun (vice chairman of the People’s Political Consultative Conference),” Cr Hasler said.
The tour came immediately after the controversial federal approval of the Shenhua Watermark mine near Breeza.
The timing has drawn criticism from people who have claimed the visit is a junket on the back of Chinese investment in the area, but a council spokesperson has re-iterated on social media that all 17 members of the tour had to meet their own expenses.
Cr Hasler has said the trip, which had been in the pipeline for some time, had not been contingent on approval for the Shenhua mine.
The tour included a dinner with Shenhua officials, and a visit to a Shenhua mine.
Cr Hasler said the delegation had been impressed with the modern agricultural enterprises they had visited in the Linhe District, which is in Inner Mongolia.
“One of the major impressions left after the visit was the massive size of projects in China, which provide visitors with an understanding of the immense population base of the country,” Cr Hasler said.
“I believe that all the delegates were extremely impressed with the appearance of the Linhe District community and saw it as surpassing our earlier expectations as a potential Sister City.”
He said by the end of the three-day visit to the district, the delegation was “receiving very postitive indications of support for the Sister City relationship”, with officials attending all the events on the tours.
Gunnedah Chamber of Commerce president Ann Luke, who also took part in the delegation along with other chamber members, said they had met a diverse range of businesspeople.
“...opportunities for commerce was a bonus,” she said.
“The chamber members who attended the trip will report to the broader membership on the outcomes of their travels, and in particular, the win-win situation of a Chinese-based Sister City relationship.”
A council spokesperson said council delegates would make a presentation to council members at the August or September meeting.
Gunnedah has three current Sister Cities, all of them in NSW.
They are:
Lane Cove Council: Established in December 2002. Lane Cove and Gunnedah have fostered a relationship by the hosting of annual visits by staff and councillors for information sharing and the sharing of art collections.
Manly Council: Established in September 2005. Both councils have an interest in their shared citizen, famous poet, Dorothea Mackellar.
Shoalhaven City Council: The two councils entered into a Friendship Agreement in October 2009.