CHIEF Minister Katy Gallagher has this morning hosted a meeting with the Mayor of Beijing Mr Anshun Wang to strengthen the sister city relationship between Canberra and Beijing.

The last time the Chief Minister and Mayor Wang met was in Beijing in 2013. The Mayor is in Canberra as part of the President of the People’s Republic of China’s visit to the national capital and to attend the China Australia Leader’s Forum later this week.

“It is an honour to welcome the Mayor to Canberra for his first visit and I was pleased to hear that he has so far found Canberra to be a beautiful and well planned city,” the Chief Minister said.

“We had a constructive discussion about how our two cities could continue to build on the strong ties that have been established, particularly over the past 14 years since the signing of a sister city relationship between Canberra and Beijing.

“There is a lot our two cities can learn from each other in particular in areas such as urban planning, protection of the environment and public transport and the Mayor and I have agreed that officials talk specifically about practical projects we can progress in these three areas.

“I also discussed the strong level of interest from Chinese companies in the ACT Government’s City to the Lake project and the Mayor expressed a willingness to promote these opportunities further to Beijing companies who may be interested.”

In early November the Chief Minister joined His Excellency Ma Zhaoxu, Ambassador of China to open the spectacular Beijing Gardens on the shores of Lake Burley Griffin which was a gift from Beijing for Canberra’s Centenary.

“The Mayor’s visit was a wonderful opportunity to thank the Mayor and the Beijing Municipal Government personally for their generous gift to the city and people of Canberra. It was also great to promote the growing relationship between our two cities and our two countries. I was pleased to hear that Mayor Wang has had the opportunity already to see the beautiful gardens in person.”

The Chief Minister will join with the Mayor of Beijing this evening to unveil the official plaque for the Beijing Gardens and later this week the Chief Minister will participate in the China Australia Leaders Forum in Sydney.