The 20th anniversary of Cultural Dialogue in 2005 is followed immediately by the 20th anniversary of the twin relations between the ancient imperial Aachen, Germany, and Ningbo, a prosperous port city in east China’s coastal Zhejiang Province.
The significant exchanges between the two cities started in 1984 after Zhejiang Province and the Federal State of Northrhine-Westfalia had entered an agreement whereby the Technical University of Aachen would give support to the setup work of its counterpart in Ningbo. The university sent experts and engineers to Ningbo. Engineers and scholars from Ningbo came to Aachen to study. Relations warmed up and exchanges expanded. The mayors of the two cities treasured the robust development so much that they proposed to set up twin relations between the two cities. In 1986, the relations were officially cemented. Since then, cultural and economic exchanges between the two cities thousands of miles apart have been flourishing. Today, it is no longer”Tales from Arabian NightsÓ that large groups of students from Aachen visit Ningbo and thousands of students from Ningbo have studied in local schools in Aachen.
Doctors from the two cities have also been working closely together. The Bechlchem Hospital in Stolberg near Aachen has become one of the recent highlights of this cooperation. At present, Doctor Du Xi from Ningbo is in Stolberg working closely with Doctor Detlef Marx, who studied TCM in Chengdu in Sichuan Province, to establish a department for Chinese herbal therapies.
It deserves a special mention that in 2005, a Ningbo troupe staged the Ningbo Opera play named”The Pawned Wife” which won the top award at the 7th China Arts Festival earlier that year. The play was received with great interest by the people of Aachen. The Aachen Zeitung gave a very favorable review on the play.
Cultural exchanges between Aachen and Ningbo are only one part of the booming cooperation. Economic interactions between the two cities have been flourishing. Prym Company in Stolberg near Aachen, the oldest German family enterprise, set up Ningbo Prym Metal Products Co Ltd years ago. Since 1998, the joint-venture with a workforce of 250 has been supplying press studs and metal accessories to many well-known European fashionwear companies, whose products are also manufactured in Asia.
The twin relations between the two cities are not confined to the two cities only. Nowadays, 170 companies in the area around Aachen have business connections with China. Amepa is an Aachen-based company that manufactures equipment for quality assurance in steel production. Its products are greatly required by the booming Chinese steelworks with their annual production of more than 300 million tons.
The most famous citizen of Aachen in China is Hermann Tilke, the 50-year-old engineer who designed and built the F1 motor-racing circuit in Shanghai. The 5.5-km circuit can accommodate 220,000 spectators and cost US$ 300 million to build.
Association for Promoting the Friendship between Aachen and Ningbo” headed by its chairman Herbert Proemper, makes sure that Germany-China friendship continues to grow in Aachen. Proemper, an honorary citizen of Ningbo, ensures the well-being of Chinese people in Aachen and looks after Chinese delegations, scientists in exchange programs as well as teachers-students travel groups.