28 November 2007

By Sipho None

THE number of visits to Mogale City by officials from the Chinese city of Wujiang is a clear indication that the two municipalities mean business and want to cement trade relations.

Mogale and Wujiang signed a bilateral agreement in 2003. Since then, the Chinese city has sent officials to Mogale five times. The latest visit was a courtesy call to Mogale City Executive Mayor Koketso Calvin Seerane, according to Mohale Selebi, the political support services executive manager in the Office of the Mayor.

It follows a visit in July this year by the deputy executive mayor of Wujiang municipality, Fan Jiankun, who threw his weight behind the development of local farmers.

"The two cities have signed a memorandum of understanding long before, and the current stopover was a courtesy call from their side," Selebi said. "However, based on the agreement signed in 2003, we are treating the relationship with the city of Wujiang very seriously. We felt humble by the visit to Mogale City and for us that strengthens the relationship further."

Selebi said the two cities were committed to formalising their relationship, and the tours should not only be seen as visits without business and service delivery taking place. On his next visit to Wujiang, Seerane would include community members as part of his delegation.

"To demonstrate the seriousness of the bilateral ties between the cities, the executive mayor [Seerane] said that on his next visit to China he will include members of the community, who specialise in different fields and will share their experiences with the Chinese."

Various government sectors would also join the delegation; the most recent Chinese delegation in Mogale had asked for community members and members of the government to be included.

"The head of the delegation requested that in the next visit we send various sectors of the government as well as officials from our public safety department. This entourage will include, among others, officials from the departments of education and justice and the South African Police Service, where there will be specific programmes," Selebi said.

"In fact, we looked a step further to include community members to be part of the programme, where emphasis will be on youth exchange programmes."

The head of the Wujiang delegation, the chairman of the Jiangsu Wujiang city committee of the Communist Party of China, En De Shen, was pleased to get first-hand knowledge of Mogale City. His delegation visited the Maropeng Interpretation Centre in the Cradle of Humankind, Monash University of South Africa, the Discovery Lodge and the Walter Sisulu Botanical Gardens.

"What fascinates us is the cleanliness of the city and its people. Your city is very clean and the people are friendly. This year in June and in October last year we came to Mogale City because we have formed a solid foundation and want to do more on mutual exchange programmes in different aspects," he said.

He spoke through an interpreter, Jianhong Zeng.

"Like ordinary people we should understand one another better and this visit will set the ball rolling to understand Mogale City better in fields such as economy, agriculture and other areas within the City's public safety [sector]. We want to engage young people in exchange programmes and also strengthen our programmes in technology."

Wujiang, which is also known as Luxiang, has been famous since ancient times for its agriculture. It is also known as Land of Fish and Rice and City of Silk. Agriculture co-operatives in Wujiang are among the best in China, with 31 professional co-operatives, 20 agriculture associations and 155 farmers' partnership organisations.

Some 39 agricultural products are farmed in the area, including nursery forestry, silkworm breeding and mulberry trees. It has an egg and poultry hatchery for 100 million ducklings.

Another member of the delegation, HengFu Yu, the city's public safety bureau director, said: "Every field is important for us and public safety is a very critical aspect of a city. We will have to see areas of common interest that will benefit both cities.

"We intend taking the local guys to our city and bringing ours this side so that the two departments can share experiences and exchange ideas on how to protect our residents, and make sure that we increase our knowledge in this field."

The seven-member delegation from China was looking forward to receiving Seerane and his delegation from Mogale City.

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