City Council of Greensboro, NC Approves Sister City Ties With Yingkou City, China

Dec. 6, 2009 - PRLog -- A brief presentation was given to the Greensboro City Council on September 15 by James Montague, a businessman and community leader from Raleigh, NC, and Lily Yang, also from Raleigh, President of Yang International Business Consulting. Ms. Yang and Mr. Montague are entrepreneurs who facilitated the relationship between the cities. They collaborated previously on a sister city partnership between Raleigh, NC and Xiangfan City, China.

During the presentation, Mr. Montague stated that they were contacted by State House Representative Earl Jones to find a sister city for the city of Greensboro. While he and Ms Yang were visiting partners in Xiangfan City for the Raleigh sister city, city leaders of Yingkou approached them, “seeking a city with cultural significance to establish a sister city relationship” with. Ms. Yang carried this mission forward to unite them with the city of Greensboro.

Ms. Yang spoke about the benefits to the Greensboro City Council, including new business connections, conferences, exhibitions, services and investment opportunities to stimulate the economy. Next steps were discussed and city Mayor, Yvonne Johnson asked about the major industries of Yingkou.

At the city Council meeting on October 20, Ms. Yang presented sister city support letters from local Greensboro industries and a letter from the City of Raleigh illustrating their participation in a sister city program with Xiangfan City. Mayor Johnson stated that the purpose of the memorandum was to enhance trade.

Councilmember Bellamy-Small moved adoption of the resolution. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Groat; and all attending Council members voted yes to approve the sister city partnership.

The city of Yingkou, a port city of approximately 2.3 million people is located in the Liaoning Province on the Gulf of Bo Hai. It is 400 miles northeast of China’s capital, Beijing and is one of the 10 major coastal ports of China. Companies from some 40 countries and regions have set up businesses in Yingkou; including ten from the world’s Top 500 list. Yingkou is one of China’s top export commodities bases, annually exporting close to US$1 billion worth of goods to some 140 countries and regions. Production of pianos, violins and accordions, gives Yingkou the nickname of “Musical Instruments Town of China”. It is also becoming China’s most important specialist steel production base, with other industries including textiles, petrochemicals, grain, fruit, forest and silkworm cocoons, animal husbandry, aquatic products, vegetables and special products.

Ms. Lily Yang is Principal of International Business Consulting. Her consulting agency facilitates American businesses seeking market expansion and sourcing service in China. More information can be found at http://www.yangconsulting.com.