Partnership Cities
Wellington has three partnership city relationships:
- Taipei, Taiwan
- Tianjin, People's Republic of China
- Qingdao, People's Republic of China
A partnership city relationship is generally a shorter-term relationship based on a specific project or initiative that the two cities share.
Taipei, Taiwan
In 1997 Kerry Prendergast, then Deputy Mayor of Wellington, visited Taipei to meet with Bai Hsiu-Hsiung, Taipei's Deputy Mayor. The two deputy mayors signed an agreement to foster closer economic ties between Wellington and Taipei.
In 1998 a delegation of 155 Taipei government officials visited Wellington and the understanding was renewed.
Tianjin, China
In 2000 Wellington entered into a partnership with Tianjin to protect the two cities against earthquake disaster. Former Wellington Mayor Mark Blumsky visited Tianjin to make the relationship official.
The focus of the relationship has been on sharing knowledge of earthquake preparedness, mitigation and recovery.
The relationship is one of the international partnerships established as part of the World Bank supported Megacities Earthquake Mitigation Initiative. The Chinese Seismological Bureau nominated Tianjin to be Wellington's twin partner in the programme.
Qingdao, China
A large number of students from Qingdao study in Wellington. In 2000 Qingdao and Wellington city signed an agreement to formalise the existing education links between the cities and encourage more students to study in Wellington.
Department Details:
International Relations (Strategy)
