Beijing is twinned with 21 European cities but some of the agreements lie dormant

When London and Beijing signed a city-to-city partnership agreement in 2006, the two cities were bracing themselves for a number of shared experiences and challenges, most notably hosting the Olympic Games.

At the time, then London mayor Ken Livingstone said that he looked forward to a period of cooperation between the two cities.

"With Beijing at the heart of China, the world's fastest growing economy, and London, a world leader in financial and business services, we are confident that both our great cities can benefit from closer ties," he said.

"We hope this agreement will foster an environment in which London and Beijing can become closer business partners and develop a deeper cultural understanding through the exchange of tourists and students."

In practice, however, civic ties between the two cities have remained ceremonial. Beijing's official website lists almost 50 different sister cities in countries around the world, making bilateral relations complicated. Indeed, London's local government office stressed that the city doesn't consider its arrangement with Beijing to be a formal twinning.

Meanwhile, Beijing's cooperation with twinning cities has gone beyond the ceremonial level. Various social groups, dedicated on cultural exchanges, have been involved in building stronger bond between Beijing and its sister-cities.

Despite this, European capitals remain keen to sign formal friendship agreements with Beijing. In the past two years, Dublin and Copenhagen have taken the total number of Beijing's European sister cities to 21.

To gain the most out of such an agreement, cities are beginning to focus twinning arrangements on specific policy areas. Copenhagen, for example, has used the twinning to promote cooperation on environmental and urban planning.

"The city of Beijing says it wants to focus on sustainable solutions, the clean-technology sector, social welfare and livability, and how to be a growing city and still have a focus on citizens' quality of life," said Copenhagen's mayor Frank Jensen last year. "I think we have a lot to share with each other to develop both cities.

"Many of our sustainable solutions can be replicated in other cities given our experience of what works and what does not work when it comes to developing our cities in a more green and sustainable way."

In terms of city management, Beijing has maintained a cooperative relationship with Moscow. In January, 2010, Beijing sent a delegation to Moscow to gain advanced experience of snow removal, a problem which Beijing was facing during that period, together with the aim of better enabling the city to deal with emergencies caused by nature.

Similarly, Dublin's twinning with Beijing in 2011 focused upon education, paving the way for a joint venture college in Beijing between University College Dublin and Beijing University of Technology.

The proposal was made by UCD following the official Beijing-Dublin twinning agreement and it was during a meeting between Beijing's mayor and Ireland's minister for education that the plans were endorsed.

The formal agreement was signed in February, 2012, which marks the first time a Beijing's municipal university has ever signed a joint educational contract with a famous foreign university. In 2013, the joint venture plans to recruit 400 students to major of Software Engineering, The Internet of Things, Finance and Applied Statistics.

Last year, Budapest upgraded a friendship agreement with Beijing, signed in 2005, to sister-city status in hope of developing cultural ties.

According to the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Press and Publication, the focus of forming new twinning relationships is on the complementary economic qualities that its partners possess.

"Friendly relations between the two countries are very important for the Hungarian government, and Budapest wants to contribute to this process by this agreement," said Budapest's mayor, Istvan Tarlos. "We would like to host Chinese orchestras and organize art exhibitions and, of course, we also would like to come to China and do the same."

Some of Beijing's older European twinning agreements continue to be maintained. In 2010, it marked the 30th anniversary of its first European sister-city agreement with Belgrade.

"For us, the bridge we are going to build together is important," said Belgrade mayor Dragan Djilas at the time. A special exhibit of Chinese art was displayed at Belgrade's Old Palace to mark the occasion.

Despite these successes, some of the 21 twinning agreements between Beijing and European cities are now dormant. With so many relationships to maintain, there is a sense that Beijing might be better off focusing on developing existing relationships rather than entering new ones.

For European cities looking to build meaningful partnerships with Chinese equivalents, the best bet is to look toward China's second and third-tier cities, as opposed to Beijing, Shanghai or Guangzhou.

Contact the writers at bartram.david@gmail.com and jixiang@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 03/15/2013 page16)