Cali and Tianjin, a city of the People's Republic of China, virtually signed the 'Letter of Intent for the Establishment of Relations of Cooperation and Friendship' between the two cities, which, according to the mayor's office of the capital of Valle del Cauca, would bring great benefits.
According to the Cali administration, this cooperation agreement was signed with the aim of making a quality leap in innovation and productive diversification, ending low investment and poor technical progress, with a view to overcoming poverty and inequality.
According to the Mayor's Office of Cali, the relationship with Tianjin had been developing since 2021, when the Colombian city participated, through the International Relations Office chaired by Óscar Fernando Marmolejo, in the Global Forum on Urban Governance, organized by the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and the government of Tianjin.
As a result of this approach, both governments expressed their interest in promoting exchanges and cooperation in urban governance, economy and trade, culture and education.
Likewise, the district administration recalled that Tianjin is an important seaport, gateway to Beijing and one of the four municipalities under the central management of the State of the People's Republic of China, along with Beijing, Shanghai and Chongqing. In addition, it is the fifth most populous city in China, with about 1.5 million inhabitants, spread over the 12,000 square kilometers that make it up.
Since 2010, Tianjin has been a globally recognized commercial and service emporium, since around 285 US companies with open capital to any investor, according to their sales volume, have established their base in Binhai, which is a new pole of growth in China and center of advanced industry and financial activity.
The manufacturing sector is the largest, covering 53.2 per cent; while 40 per cent of the municipality's territory is allocated to crops. The main products of the area are wheat, rice and corn. Fishing is another strong point of the area's economy, as are oil wells, extensive salt flats, manganese and boron mines, and petrochemical, textile, automotive and metallurgical industries.
During the virtual signing of the agreement were the mayor of Cali, Jorge Iván Ospina, who held a meeting with his counterpart from the municipality of Tianjin, Guo Xun Liao; his deputy mayor, Wang Xu; the ambassador of the People's Republic of China to Colombia, Lan Hu; the Colombian ambassador to the People's Republic of China, Luis Diego Monsalve; Secretary General of the Tianjin Municipal Government, Meng Qiangsong and the Director-General of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization - FAO of Tianjin, Luan Jianzhang.
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