On 28 June 2023, H.E. Ambassador Zheng Zeguang visited Birmingham, a major city in central UK, and met with Lord Mayor of Birmingham Chaman Lal at the Birmingham City Council House. The two sides exchanged views on enhancing friendly exchanges and mutually-beneficial cooperation between China and Birmingham.
Lord Mayor Lal warmly welcomed Ambassador Zheng and introduced the history of Birmingham and its development in recent years. He said that Birmingham cherishes its relations with friendship cities of Changchun, Guangzhou and Nanjing in China and expressed deep appreciation for Nanjing and other Chinese cities’ assistance to Birmingham during the Covid pandemic. He expressed hope for an early resumption of face-to-face exchanges with Chinese friendship cities, and expanded practical cooperation with China in a wide range of areas such as infrastructure, trade and investment, green and low-carbon transformation, education, culture and art, tourism, and sports, so as to advance the development goals of both sides.
Ambassador Zheng thanked the Lord Mayor for his warm reception. He said that Birmingham was the among the first cities to kick-start the industrial revolution and an important industrial and commercial hub, and has made remarkable achievements in industrial upgrading and economic transformation in recent years, establishing unique advantages in technological innovation, financial services, sports, education, culture and other fields.
Ambassador Zheng noted that China is steadfastly promoting high-quality development and accelerating green, low-carbon and digital transformation and that cooperation between China and Birmingham has great potential and broad prospects. He spoke highly of Birmingham's cooperation with its friendship cities of Guangzhou, Nanjing, and Changchun and said that China actively encourages Chinese cities to deepen mutually-beneficial cooperation and cultural exchanges with Birmingham. He welcomed the Lord Mayor to lead a delegation to visit China.
Minister Counselor Bi Haibo, Counselor Kong Xiangwen, and Counselor Kuang Jianjiang, and Head of European and International Affairs Lloyd Broad at the Birmingham City Council and Head of the Lord Mayor’s Office Anne Kennedy were present at the meeting.
