N E W S L E T T E R
June 2019

Ashburton to host 2020 Sister Cities Conference:‘Growing Cultural Diversity in Regions’
30 April – 2 May 2020
By Ruben Garcia, Ashburton District Council
Ashburton District Mayor Donna Favel is pleased toannounce that Ashburton will host the annual Sister
Cities Conference next year.
She made the announcement at this year’s conference inPalmerston North, where more than 150 delegates anddignitaries from New Zealand, United States, Japan, China
and Australia gathered for the three-day event.
“Hosting the 2020 conference will be an extraordinary
opportunity to showcase our district, build even stronger
international relationships and further our cultural,
educational, youth, sports, professional and technicalprojects.”
The proposed theme for the 2020 conference is, ‘Growing
cultural diversity in regions’. The theme will focus on
the unique opportunities that makes regions prime
destinations for employment, tourism and lifestyle thatwill further economic growth.

“The Sister Cities Conference will be an opportunity tofocus on regional capabilities, offerings and needs, while
recognising our respective locations on the international
stage with our partnering Sister and Friendship Cities,”
Mayor Favel continued.
Ashburton has three Sister City relationships andtwo Friendship City relationships. These are with
Minamiuonuma, Niigata, Japan; Pulaski, Virginia, UnitedStates; and Ashburton, Devon, United Kingdom; while
the Friendship Cities are with Puyang, Henan, China; andXianyang, Shaanxi, China.
There are also two expressions of interest for a Sister City
relationship with Handan, China and a Friendship City
with Zaohaung, China.
The 2020 Sister Cities Conference in Ashburton will run
from the 30 April - 2 May 2020. Transportation will be
provided to and from Christchurch Airport.

N E W S L E T T E R
June 2019

From the SCNZ board:

Kōrero – a Reflection
By Marcus Boshier, SCNZ Board
Over the past two years SCNZ has hosted four youth panel
discussions, which were aptly called Kōrero. Kōrero wasmade possible through the generous sponsorship from the
Office of Ethnic Communities’ Development Fund and thetime and energy of 21 extraordinary young people. Kōrero
provided an opportunity for SCNZ and its members toengage with 21 young people from diverse backgrounds
and experiences on matters of importance to them as
young people.
By all accounts Kōrero was a wonderful success. With the
project now complete, I thought it would be good to offersome reflections on some of the key messages, themes andchallenges presented by the Panels and in particular the
final Kōrero Panel in Palmerston North.

•

Consider whether the young people want a formal
structure or whether it may be possible to operate in
an informal way – be flexible and adaptable to meet theneeds of the young people.

•

Consider trying to step into a young person’s worldand engage with them in a way that is familiar to them.

Key themes
1.

2.

3.

4.

Enhancing Cultural understanding starts in ourcommunities: A recurring message that we heard was
the importance of events and engagement happening
at a community level, through events and festivals.
Invest in relationships. We need to encourage
conversations and allow time for relationships tostrengthen. They may result in economic benefits,
but there is merit in investing in relationships for the
relationship’s sake.
Young people should be provided more opportunities
and encouraged to learn languages. Languages enable
connection and deeper relationships. They are also avery useful asset for doing international business.
Diversity is invaluable and enriching to New Zealandand should be promoted

Challenges presented to SCNZ community by
the Palmerston North Panel•

Have and continue to encourage better dialogue withpeople, and in particular those with extremist views –try to understand and empathise with people.

•

Develop and promote exchanges so more people canbe exposed to the warmth and beauty of other cultures.

•

Talk with and be open to people around you.

•

It is important for people to learn a foreign language –encourage wide breadth of languages – “if you talk toa man in the language he knows it goes to his head, if
you talk to a man in his language it goes to his heart.”•

Through conferences engaging with community
groups and listening to young people you can improvepartnerships between cities, strengthen communities
and enhance the likes of education and the economy•

People are the most important thing – invest in people
and support people•

Be open and engaged and express gratitude often.
Every relationship is a gift. Take opportunities toextend your relationships.

Lessons on Youth Engagement•

Don’t make assumptions about young people – treat
them with respect and as people whose views arevaluable and valid.

•

Often young people are interested, but they may notknow what opportunities exist and how to get involvedin them. Adults need to take initiative to engage young
people.

•Engage young people through forums that young
people are engaging in, for example, Instagram,
Facebook, YouTube and consider the use of influencers.

•

Get passionate young people involved. If young people,
like adults are passionate about what they are doing,
they will invest their time and energy.

•

Have inclusive processes, where young people are at
the table making decisions with adults rather thanhaving adults simply making decisions for young
people.

•Provide free food

When provided the opportunity to speak, it was a privilege
to hear the views of the respective panels and to gain theirinsights on matters of importance to them. Again, we thankthe Office of Ethnic Communities for their support for
enabling the discussions to happen. There are videos up
on the Sister Cities YouTube Chanel and also on the Sister
Cities Facebook page.
If you have any questions or thoughts – perhaps you would
like to run a similar panel discussion in your town – get intouch with SCNZ. We would love to hear from you.

N E W S L E T T E R
June 2019

Selwyn District Council Sister City Visit from Toraja, Indonesia
By Allison Rosanowski, Selwyn Sister City Committee
Sister City Relationships are people to people
relationships developed after the Second World War to
improve global understanding. One of Selwyn District
Council’s relationships is with Toraja, in Sulawesi
Indonesia. Hugging an alpaca, visiting modern learning
environment schools, seeing electricity generated form
waste all added value to the relationships when Toraja
Council officials visited Selwyn for the first time in May.
Toraja is a Christian community in the highlands of
Sulawesi. Their primary economic activities are coffee andrice growing, plus tourism. For over fourteen years a groupof Canterbury farmers, the Toraja Rural Development
Charitable Trust, have been
assistingcoffeegrowers
with coffee growing and theformation of cooperatives toimprove marketing.
TorajaguestsvisitedCanterbury
Museum,theChrist Church Cathedral andenjoyed the opportunity to prayin the Transitional Cathedral.
A Mayoral welcome gave bothsides of the relationship an
opportunity to talk about theirdistricts.
The
agreedprogramme
for Toraja visitors included
horticulture,waste
management, education andtourism marketing.
Allen Lim, a Selwyn grower ofgreen vegetables demonstrated
the use of fertiliser and sprays
and talked of how supermarkets
are supplied. At Robin Oakley’s
Premium Fresh Vegetables thewashing, grading and packaging
of potatoes for supermarkets
was highlighted.
Toraja is beginning to recycle
plastic. The Rolleston rubbish
compacting site and Kate
Valley landfill showed waste
management at a district wide
scale. The Toraja visitors were especially impressed by
the generation of electricity from the gases produced at
the Kate Valley landfill. At present the two generators can
supply electricity for 2000 homes. Two more generators
are being built. Rolleston’s sewage waste plant and its
technological and scientific methods of cleaning anddisposing waste were an eye opener. Ladbooks School
demonstrated their Enviroschools Programme and how
students, teachers, parents and community are involved.
Toraja is working to establish educational relationships
in Selwyn and especially Rolleston. Visits to Rolleston

Primary School, Clearview School and Rolleston College
allowed our visitors to see engaged pupils working in brightmodern learning environments, rather than the formal
textbook learning in the classrooms of Toraja. Rolleston
College’s Kapa Haka group formally welcomed the visitors
who responded with a speech and Indonesian song of theirown.
At Lincoln University, the Toraja group, meet Indonesianstudents who are studying at Lincoln and heard of theirjourney to choose Lincoln and the variety of courses they
are enrolled in.
A group of retired Selwyn
teachers also meet the Toraja
group. The plan is they willtravel to Toraja later this year
to work alongside English
teachers in their schools.
More teachers are welcome tojoin this group.
Tourism is an important
activity in Toraja, although
their remote location meansthat tourists need to plan
to visit. Graeme Abbot, theManager of Hanmer Springs
Thermal Pools explained thatthey market first as part ofCanterbury Tourism, then asa Hurunui destination andfinally as the major attractionin Hanmer Springs. Rubicon
Farm and Jet boating gave theguests a unique experience jetboating on the Waimakariri
River, a farm demonstration of
sheep dogs working, alpacas
and a shearing demonstration.
Their marketing is completely
online, a big change form paper
ten years ago. Chris Lowe also
explained how their different
activities attract different
demographics- horse trekking
attracts females in the 24 to 30
age bracket.
The Selwyn District Council Sister City Committee
provided homestays for the Toraja visitors: a unique
opportunity to experience living locally. The Canterbury
Farmers’ group sponsored Everyready Lolo who has
worked with the farmers groups in the past and is a
tourism operator in Toraja. Each day the group wereaccompanied by two Sister City Committee members.
A lot of voluntary time enhances the value of these visits
as we learn about each other’s culture and develop
friendships.

N E W S L E T T E R
June 2019

Tree Planting at Gisborne Botanic Gardens
By Jan Calder
Members of the Botanical Gardens of Australia and New
Zealand (BGANZ) met in Gisborne on the 16th and 17th May
for meetings and visits to developing areas of interest
to them and in preparation for their AGM Conference
later in 2019.
The group was comprised of:•Jack Hobbs (well known for many years as a television
Gardening show presenter) and Bec Stanley Auckland Botanic Gardens•

Kristian Davies - Pukekura Park•David Sole - Wellington Botanic Gardens•

Clare Shearman - Wellington Botanic Gardens•

Bede Nottingham - Christchurch Botanic Gardens•

Alan Matchett & Dylan Norfield - Dunedin Botanic
Gardens

The visiting group very generously donated a rare Wollemi
Pine which had been grown on in the Christchurch
Botanic Gardens. The Wollemi Pine species is establishedin the Blue Mountains of Australia. This tree was muchappreciated as an addition to the plantings in the SC’s
Australia Garden collection within the Gisborne Botanic
Gardens.

Gisborne Mayor Meng Foon is seen planting the tree andably assisted by Dot McCulloch, a Committee member ofGisborne Sister Cities and a very active member of the“Friends of the Gisborne Botanic Gardens” and Gisborne
District Council staff. BGANZ Committee members, GDSC
members and other GDC staff watch on.
After viewing the Gisborne Botanic Gardens the visiting
group continued on to visit Dame Anne Salmond’s “1769
Garden”.

Photo: Ann Osler

Marlborough Hosts Ningxia Visit
By Alistair Schorn, Marlborough District Council
In May, Marlborough District Council hosted a visit bya regional government delegation from Marlborough’ssister region in China, the Ningxia Hui Autonomous
Region.
The sister region relationship is based on both regions’significant viticulture and wine industries. Since therelationship was established in 2016, a number ofMarlborough winemakers have visited Ningxia toshare knowledge and experience with their Chinesecounterparts. The Blenheim campus of the Nelson
Marlborough Institute of Technology (NMIT) also hosts
students from Ningxia, all of whom study winemaking
and gain practical experience in one of Marlborough’s
more than 140 wineries.
The next phase of the sister region relationship will
focus on winery technology. Some Marlboroughdeveloped and manufactured technology has alreadybeen supplied to wineries in Ningxia, and the Council’s
Economic Development Unit is collaborating with New
Zealand Trade and Enterprise to increase exports ofwinery technology and expertise to China and other wine
markets.
The delegation comprised senior officials from the
Ningxia People’s Congress, as well as regional government
departments. Their itinerary included a winery tour anddinner hosted by Mayor John Leggett at Wither Hills, anaward-winning Marlborough winery. Guests included
Marlborough district councillors, former Mayor Alistair
Sowman, and Liam Sloan, Chief Executive of NMIT.
The delegation also visited Blenheim’s NMIT campus andthe Marlborough Research Centre, where the potential
for increasing the number of students coming from
Ningxia to study here was discussed.

N E W S L E T T E R
June 2019

Business, Investment and Civic Leaders ShareOopportunities at Tripartite 2019
By Pamela Jamieson, Auckland Council
Auckland successfully hosted Los Angeles (LA) andGuangzhou business and civic delegations at Tripartite
2019. The event, which took place 19-21 May, is part of the
five-year-old Tripartite Economic Alliance, first signed
in 2014 and renewed in 2017 for a further three years. The
Alliance is a world-first tri-city agreement that boosts
Auckland’s business and cultural connections with twoof the economic powerhouses in the Asia-Pacific region.
Tripartite 2019 was timed to align with Techweek19,
mirroring the agreement between the three cities to movefrom an annual summit for the initial three years of thealliance to aligning Tripartite activity to an existing tradeand innovation event in each city. This new model wasdemonstrated successfully in Los Angeles in May 2018
during the 2018 Select LA Investment Summit.

cities’ unified approach. The Tripartite has been an
excellent platform for facilitating connections for theprivate business sector in Guangzhou, and we look forward
to further strengthening these connections when we host
Tripartite activity in 2020,’ said Mr LIU.
Los Angeles and Guangzhou are two of Auckland’s oldest
and most significant city partnerships. Guangzhou
and Auckland celebrate the 30th anniversary of theirrelationship this year (which was marked during Tripartite2019), and Los Angeles and Auckland have been partnercities for 48 years.

Tripartite 2019, delivered by Auckland Council’sInternational Relations unit and Auckland Tourism Eventsand Economic Development (ATEED), was attended bymore than 100 international delegates and 260 Auckland
companies, bringing business, investment and civic
leaders together to exchange ideas and opportunities.
The two-day programme included a series of innovation
showcases and panel discussions, networking events, site
visits to local post-production companies, and an event
to highlight and promote the region’s Māori businesscapability to the international guests.
There was also a significant trilateral agreement signed
between Auckland, Los Angeles and Guangzhou, on Pacific
Rim emergency preparedness, that will see the threeparties share best practice on how cities can cope during
times of emergency and disaster recovery.
After five years of collaboration, the three cities are
now whanau and have built trusted relationships which
help accelerate business deals. To this end, a number ofMemoranda of Understanding were signed at Tripartite
2019 between Chinese and local companies to pursue
mutual opportunities.
Auckland Mayor Phil Goff said ‘the Tripartite Economic
Alliance is an example to the world of how cities canwork together to strengthen their commercial, tradeand people-to-people relationships and create enduring
economic benefits that last long after the delegates havegone home.’
Los Angeles Deputy Mayor Jeff Gorell said ‘there is nothingelse like the Tripartite Economic Alliance in the world.
The power of it is getting our business delegates to forge
deals so we can create investment among our three cities,
because that will improve the economy of the Pacific andwhen the Pacific does well, the entire world benefits.’
Mr LIU Baochun, Director General, Guangzhou Foreign
Affairs Office said ‘outcomes stem from the three sister

Top: Tripartite 2019
guests included, l-r,
Christine Peterson,
Director of International
Trade and Investment, LA
Mayor Garcetti’s Office;Glen Wilcox, Deputy
Chair, Independent
Maori Statutory Board;
ZHOU Wei, Acting
Consul General of thePeople’s Republic ofChina in Auckland;
Jeff Gorell, LA Deputy
Mayor; Phil Goff, Mayorof Auckland; ZHANG
Shuofu, Guangzhou
Party Secretary; Bill
Cashmore, Deputy Mayorof Auckland; Rachel
Maidment, NZ Consul
General Guangzhou;
Nick Hill, Chief Executive,
ATEED; Katelyn Choe,
US Consul General Auckland; LIU Baochun, Director General,
Guangzhou Foreign Affairs Office and MIAO Tian, General Office,
CPC Guangzhou Committee.
Right: Auckland Mayor Phil Goff addressing guests at the
Tripartite 2019 Sister Cities Celebration Dinner at the Aotea
Centre on 20 May 2019.

N E W S L E T T E R
June 20192019 Marks the 30th Anniversary of the Auckland Guangzhou Sister City Relationship
By Pamela Jamieson, Auckland Council
SU made a bold experiment after returning to China,
On 21 May, Councillor Chris Darby welcomed over 85
applying an 8000-year-old Chinese art form of lacquer
guests to Pah Homestead to celebrate the 30th anniversary
painting to a new interpretation of Maori design. Thisof the sister city relationship between Guangzhou
resulted in a widely acclaimed
and Auckland.
It wasexhibition in Guangzhou in
especially relevant to have2015 and the undertaking
Mrs Nora YAO as Councillor
by Rebecca Needham, theDarby’s interpreter as Norathen Consul General ininterpreted for Dame CathTāmaki Makaurau-Guangzhou Tāone Nui Tuahine
Guangzhou, to have it tour
Tizard when the original
Huritau 30
Te hanga arawhiti – he puka whakamaumahara: 1989-2019
New Zealand. This exhibition
Sister City Agreement wasis a continuation of previous
signed in 1989.
Aucklandendeavours, and brought
Council was delighted thattogether fourteen lacquer
Nora was able to play the
Auckland-Guangzhou Sister City
painting artists - led by Mr SU
same role in the anniversaryth
30 Anniversary- who attended the exhibition,
Building bridges – a commemorative album: 1989-2019
celebrations as she did 30
including 4 members of Mr
years ago!
Jack Rangiwahia’s family,
The Guangzhou delegation,
reinforcing the friendshipled by Guangzhou Party
between the two countries.
Secretary ZHANG Shuofu and
The guests were entertained by the Selwyn College
accompanied by Acting Consul-General ZHOU Wei, were
Jazz Band. Selwyn College also has a connection withwelcomed onto the grounds of Pah Homestead by local
Guangzhou as the college is twinned with the Guangdongiwi.
Overseas International School.
To mark the 30th anniversary, Auckland Council, together
In celebration of 30 years of collaboration between
with Guangzhou City, in collaboration with the TSB
Auckland
and
Guangzhou,
AucklandCouncil’s
Wallace Arts Trust, supported the opening of a ChineseInternational Relations team compiled a Commemorative
lacquer painting exhibition entitled Dialogue of FriendshipAlbum entitled Building Bridges. It is intended as ain the Language of Colours. In 2014, Mr SU Xing, an artist
reminder of our past cooperation, and with the sincere
based in Guangdong, visited New Zealand and became
hope that both cities will continue to build on the alreadyacquainted with Mr Jack Rangiwahia from the Southstrong connections in the years ahead.
Taranaki region, and his family. Deeply influenced
and inspired by local Maori culture and hospitality, Mr

Left: 30th anniversary celebrations on the lawn at Pah Homestead. Right: L-R: Chinese lacquer painting artist Mr LI Zhihong, Councillor
Chris Darby, Guangzhou Party Secretary ZHANG Shuofu, Acting Consul-General ZHOU Wei and Mr SU XingN E W S L E T T E R
June 2019

Left: The new mural in Palmerston North, painted by Willow Kipp. Right: Willow Kipp performs at theFestival of Cultures opening ceremony. Below right: Missoula delegation welcomed by Rangitāne iwi at
Te Rangimarie Marae

Indigenous Collaboration Mural
Painted During 2019 SCNZ Conference
By Toni Grace, Palmerston North City Council
Missoula and Palmerston North are both recognised
nationally for their vibrant arts and creative scenes,
so the recent Sister City visit provided the perfectopportunity to create a lasting public art collaboration.
In March 2019, artist Willow Kipp—a member of theBlackfeet and Shosone-Bannock Nation Tribes indigenous
Montana— worked with local artists to create a street
mural as an addition to Palmerston North’s public art
collection.
Mātauranga Māori and Toi Māori experts from Rangitāne,
The Massey University School of Māori Visual Arts,
Distinction Hotel Palmerston North & Nosh Restaurant,
LOOP New Zealand, and established local artists Israel
Tangaroa Birch and Gemma Yiannoutsos worked with
Willow in creating the cultural art piece.
Willow travelled to Palmerston North as part of the
14-strong Missoula Sister City delegation, which attended
the 2019 Sister Cities NZ Conference. The vibrant muraladorns the side of the Distinction Hotel, which was
accommodating many of the SCNZ conference delegatesat the time.
The mural, called “HorseCoup”, tells the historic
story about a group of horses which her tribe took fromneighbouring tribes. While in Palmerston North, Willow
and her mother Michelle also performed traditional
Native American dances for the Festival of Cultures andthe SCNZ Awards dinner.
The visit also furthered the connection between
Massey University and the University of Montana, who
are progressing talks on an MOU which could led to
student and staff mobility and a combined indigenous
qualification.
The delegation, which included members of the Universityof Montana Native American Studies Department, were
hosted by Massey University’s School of Māori Knowledge(Te Pūtahi-a-Toi) for three days, as well as staying
overnight at Te Rangimarie Marae in Rangiotū, hosted byRangitāne iwi.

New International Relations Manager
Appointed at Hutt City Council
By Laura Sessions, Hutt City Council
Hutt City Council is pleased to announce the appointment
of Vesna West in the role of International Relations
Manager.

resettlement,
ESOL
teaching,
interpreting and translating, andsupporting ethnic communities.

Vesna comes to the Council from the Office of EthnicCommunities at the Department of Internal Affairs, where
she worked as a Senior Diversity and Engagement Advisor.
She previously worked at Hutt City Council managing
settlement support programmes for migrants new to the
Hutt Valley. Throughout her working life in New Zealand,
she has worked in the area of migrant and refugee

Vesna is originally from Former
Yugoslavia and moved to New Zealand in 1994 with her
Kiwi husband. She has two adult sons and enjoys travelling,meeting people and learning about different cultures.
Vesna says, “I’m excited about my new role and theopportunities to further develop Hutt City’s international
relationships.”

N E W S L E T T E R
June 2019

Left: Palmerston North education delegation meets with the Guiyang Education Bureau. Right: Deputy Mayor Tangi Utikere andMassey University Computer Science lecturer Dr Sunil Lal interacting with exhibits at the Big Data Expo

Palmerston North Deputy Mayor Visits
Sister City Guiyang
By Toni Grace, Palmerston North City Council
Palmerston North Deputy Mayor Tangi Utikere travelled
to Chinese Sister City Guiyang to join an educationdelegation from Manawatū and to attend the 2019 China
International Big Data Expo.
The delegation includes representatives from the New
Zealand Consulate (Ministry of Foreign Affairs andTrade), Central Economic Development Agency, Massey
University, IPU New Zealand, St Peter’s College, Awatapu
College, Palmerston North Boys’ High School, Palmerston
North Girls’ High School, and Freyberg High School.
Back in 2017 Palmerston North
Mayor Grant Smith headed
a city business delegation to
Guiyang as part of the 25th
anniversary celebrations, which
included signing an international
education letter of intent.
“The letter of intent has created avaluable platform for Palmerston
North education providers totravel to Guiyang, meet with
the Education Bureau, visit
prospective partner schools,
and form relationships witheducation recruitment agencies,”says Deputy Mayor Utikere.
Guiyang is a picturesque cityin Guizhou province. In recent
years it’s blossomed into a meccaof ingenuity, playing host to someof the world’s foremost techagencies. Think Microsoft, Apple,

and Alibaba.
Before the education delegation visit, the Deputy Mayor
attended the 2019 China International Big Data Expo (26 to
29 May), along with Stephen Wong, New Zealand Consul
General responsible for Southwest China (Ministry ofForeign Affairs and Trade) and Dr Sunil Lal, a lecturer
in Computer Science at Massey University’s Manawatū
campus.
“The China International Big Data Expo is one of thehighest-profile national events
held in Guiyang, a city that is fast
becoming a leading hub for big
data in China,” says the Deputy
Mayor.
During his visit, Deputy Mayor
Utikere met his counterpart
in Guiyang, Vice Mayor Sun
Zhiming, and the Guiyang
Education Bureau.
Palmerston North’s international
relations efforts won nationalrecognition taking out the “bestcommercially focused project”
at the 2018 Sister Cities New
Zealand Awards. The prize
included an Air New Zealand
Travel voucher which enabledthe Deputy Mayor’s recent trip to
China.
The Deputy Mayors of Palmerston
North and Guiyang meet in themargins of the Big Data ExpoN E W S L E T T E R
June 2019

Palmerston North Hosts Friendship City in ChinaNew Zealand Year of Tourism
By Toni Grace, Palmerston North City Council
Palmerston North embraced New Zealand’s ‘Year of
Tourism’ with China, hosting their friendship city ofKunshan on the 25th anniversary of the relationship.
Officials from the eastern Chinese city spent the day in
Palmerston North on 30 May to discuss culture, healthand tourism cooperation.
The visitors had a full itinerary, which included meetings
with local health agencies, tourism operators, a visit
to Massey University and Te Manawa Museum of Art,
Science and History.
The day was rounded out with a celebratory dinner for
the China-New Zealand Year of Tourism where both cities
shared presentations andvideos about their tourism
offerings.
The
festivities
were
attended by Palmerston
North
Mayor
Grant
Smith, Councillor Adrian
Broad, and Linda Stewart,
CEO - Central Economic
Development Agency, as
well as representatives from
Rangitāne iwi, local tourism
agencies and members of
the extended Manawatū
Chinese community.
While this year holds
national
significance,
Palmerston North has been
flying the flag in China
for decades. The city has
two longstanding Chinese
relationships, Guiyang since
1992 and Kunshan since
1994.
In 2017, Mayor Smith
travelled to China toreconnect with Kunshan,
beforean
educationdelegation visited in 2018.
“Two decades into ourrelationship we’re seeing

great outcomes for both cities,” said Mayor Smith.
“We have many shared interests, leading to great
opportunities, particularly across our education andtourism sectors.”
In recognition of the friendship city relationship, students
from Palmerston North were given the opportunity toapply for four-year undergraduate scholarships to attend
Duke Kunshan University, worth over NZ$300,000.
The 2018 recipient, Krista McJarrow-Keller has completed
her first year at the International Chinese-American
University and currently represents Palmerston North as
the official Youth Ambassador to Kunshan.
Members of the Kunshan
delegation included theVice Chairman of theChinese People’s Political
Consultative
Conferenceof Kunshan, the Deputy
Director of the Kunshan
Culture,Sports,Radio,
Television, and Tourism
Bureau; the Deputy Directorof the Kunshan HealthCommission; the Deputy
Director of the R&D Centreof the Kunshan Municipal
People’s Government; theDirector of the Kunshan
International
Relations
Centre.

Top: PNCC City Councillor
Adrian Broad hosts theKunshan delegation at
Enable NZ to discuss mutualinterests in community healthmanagement and support.
Bottom: The Kunshan
delegation presents a scroll
gift to Mayor Grant Smith at
the China New Zealand Year of
Tourism dinnerN E W S L E T T E R
June 2019

SCNZ Supported the NZCFS National Conference
By Kirk McDowall, New Zealand China Friendship Society
The Wellington Branch of the New Zealand China
Friendship Society (NZCFS) proudly hosted the National
Conference and Annual General Meeting on Friday 24
May to Sunday 26 May 2019.
The

theme

of

the

Conference was 敢问路在何方(Gǎn wèn lù zài héfāng): Dare to ask where to from here!

The Branch gives special thanks to the keynote speakers,
Her Excellency Ms Wu Xi, Ambassador of the People’s
Republic of China, Mr Xie Yuan, Vice-President of theChinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign
Countries, Mr Ray Wallace, Hutt City Council Mayor, Mr
Mike Tana, Porirua City Mayor and Mr Dave Bromwich,
NZCFS National President. The Branch also welcomed
representatives from Sister Cities NZ, the Confucius
Institute of Victoria University of Wellington and the
Wellington Chinese Association, along with NZCFS
delegates and friends from across New Zealand.
The conference began on Friday evening with two
performances from the Oriental Dance Academy,
followed by speeches from Dave Bromwich and Luke Qin,
Wellington Chinese Association President. Both spokeon growing and maintaining the relationship between
New Zealand and China, and the important role locally
based organisations have in building the people to people
connections. Following the welcoming, the Branch hosted
a banquet dinner at Dragons Restaurant on Tory Street.
On Saturday the Wellington Branch welcomed over 50
NZCFS delegates and guests from across the country tohear keynote speakers and presentations on the theme:
Dare to ask where to from here! Guests were greeted by
performances from the Oriental Cultural and Performing
Arts Group to begin the conference. Her Excellency Ms Wu
Xi opened the conference and spoke on the importanceof the relationship between New Zealand and China, andthe role of the NZCFS has in building the connection. The
link to the Ambassador’s speech can be found at the endof the article.

From Left: Kirk McDowall, Mike Tana, Ray Wallace, HE
Ms Wu Xi, Hiromi Morris, Xie Yuan and Dave Bromwich

The Branch was fortunate to host a delegation from the
Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign
Countries (CPAFFC) in Beijing, led by Vice-President Mr
Xie Yuan, who also gave a keynote address. In addition,
the Branch welcomed Mr Ray Wallace, Hutt City Council
Mayor and Mr Mike Tana, Porirua City Mayor, who
echoed the importance of people-to-people relations,and building awareness and understanding of China andwider diversity within our communities. Each keynote
address highlighted the importance of the goals and aimsof the NZCFS.
Throughout the day, the audience heard a rangeof speakers, including Tony Browne, Chair of VUWConfucius Institute, followed by four Mandarin Language
Assistants as well as Celia Wade-Brown, Hiromi Morris,
President of Sister Cities New Zealand, and a range ofpresentations focused on New Zealand and China. The
Wellington Branch thanks all the speakers and a listof all presentations can be found below. Following thepresentations, the Conference Celebration Banquet was
hosted at Grand Century on Tory Street, which wasattended by over 50 delegates, members and friends.
On Sunday 26 May, the Annual General Meeting of theSociety was held, which included the election of the
National President and National Executive Officers for
2019-2020. Reports on the activities of the Society and
Branches over the past year were tabled at the meeting.
A number of attendees have expressed appreciation of thehigh calibre of speakers and topics for the conference,
and we thank all those who could attend. The Branchespecially thanks all those on the Committee and within
the Wellington Branch who gave a great deal of time andeffort to make this conference a success, both on the day
and building up to the event.
On behalf of the Wellington Branch, thank you to those
who contributed to the Conference and the attendees.

A performance from the Oriental Dance Academy