Dragon boat takes to the water for Changde

The official launching of dragon boat “Changde” by Mayoress Regine Kramarek was a highlight of the first delegation visit of the Chinese city’s Lord Mayor Mr. Derui Zhou in Hannover. The purpose behind this trip was to consolidate the twinning partnership between the two cities which started in 2010. Hannover’s Lord Mayor Stefan Schostok welcomed his counterpart Derui Zhou in the New Town Hall and took this opportunity to discuss the continuation of the project-based cooperation existing between Changde and Hannover since 2006.  

The economic relations with the Chinese city of Changde in Hunan Province began eight years ago within the framework of the EU-Asia ProEco project “Urban Water Quality Improvement”, With the support of Leibniz University Hannover, Wasser Hannover e.V. – an association of Hannover-based companies active in the sphere of water resources management  – and Stadtentwässerung Hannover (Hannover Wastewater Treatment Services), Changde has since developed into an example-setting city in the field of sustainable water resources management.

© LHH

"The cooperation with the Chinese city of Changde shows that twinning partnership agreements are a sound basis for creating development areas for international projects and networks. This in turn creates a requisite basis for successful trade relations between German and Chinese companies in the Hannover region“, said Lord Mayor Stefan Schostok.

The delegation visit schedule also included talks with joint business development company hannoverimpuls and the Arbeitgeberverband Gesamtmetall metal industry employers’ association on the topics of eMobility and SME association work.