Nanning, capital of Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, has established official sister city relationships with cities in seven ASEAN countries, the foreign affairs office of Nanning municipal government announced on Aug 26.

Nanning's ASEAN sister cities include Khon Kaen in Thailand, Haiphong in Vietnam, Davao City in the Philippines, Preah Sihanouk Province in Cambodia, Bogor in Indonesia, Yangon in Myanmar, and Champasak Province in Laos.

Acting as a hub and gateway to ASEAN countries, Nanning has devoted much effort to expand cooperation with ASEAN countries. The city has carried out pragmatic cooperation with the aforementioned cities in a number of areas, including economy and trade, industry, education, medicine, health, and art.

Nanning has enhanced industrial cooperation with ASEAN sister cities in regard to the Beidou Satellite Navigation System and related industries, accelerating the construction of the Beidou time and space information hub facing ASEAN. The city signed a memorandum of cooperation in smart city construction with Khon Kaen in October 2019.

The city also established the Scholarship for ASEAN Students in 2011, boosting cooperation in secondary and higher vocational education with its ASEAN sister cities. 

Huang Haiyan, deputy director of the foreign affairs office of the Nanning municipal government, said that Nanning will continue to ensure the smooth operation of major platforms and projects such as the China-ASEAN Expo to optimize dialogue among international sister cities and better serve the construction of a China-ASEAN Community of Shared Destiny, as well as the Belt and Road.

Nanning currently has sister city relationships with 25 countries and has carried out friendly exchanges with nearly 40 overseas cities.