WASHINGTON, DC March 2014 –Suzhou and Portland, USA has jointly received a US-China Sister Cities Award in the “Economy and Trade” category.
The two cities, along with other award winners, were honored at a special Awards Ceremony on March 27th the Sister Cities International US-China Conference in Washington DC. A delegation from both Portland and Suzhou were in attendance to accept the award. Representing Portland were Martha Pellegrino, Director of Government Affairs; Michael Gurton, Portland Development Commission; Cathy Chinn, PSSCA President; Robert Fraser, PSSCA Immediate Past President and Lynne McIntyre, PSSCA Past President. Representing Suzhou were Mr. Xu Ming, Vice Mayor; Mr. Xu Huadong, Director of Suzhou Foreign Affairs Office and Ms. Dorathy Lu, Suzhou Foreign Affairs Office.
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The awards granted by Sister Cities International, recognize the accomplishments of outstanding US-China sister city programs and their contribution in building strong people to people ties between the two countries.
There are awards in several categories including Best Overall, Longest Relationship. Community Involvement, Youth, Arts and Culture, Economic Development and Trade, Most Innovative and Outstanding Individuals.
Suzhou and Portland established sister cities in 1988. The two cities have cooperated in economy, culture, education and grassroots exchanges ever since.
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Companies from Portland have successfully expanded their companies in Suzhou. Among them is Nike, Inc. which opened a shoe manufacturing plant in Suzhou in 1996 and has based its largest distribution center in Suzhou’s county level city of Taicang in 2011.
The award recognizes the two cities for outstanding achievements in trade and economic exchange. Suzhou is the only city in China to have won in this category. (Both Suzhou Daily and PSSCA contributed to this story.)