New Zealand's city of Hastings will celebrate the 40th anniversary of its sister-city relationship with China's Guilin between March 1 and 7, Hastings District Council said in a recent statement.

The ever-popular annual Lighting of the Osmanthus Gardens in Cornwall Park, a free show in the Opera House at Toitoi, Hawke's Bay Arts and Events Centre, celebrating the relationship, and a mini-expo at the center's event space, Functions on Hastings, telling the story of Hastings and Guilin's sister-city journey, are all in the mix and set to take place in the first week of March.

In the same week, Guilin will hold an exhibition celebrating the sister-city relationship in the city's new museum, and large screens in public squares will show video of Hastings and the shared experiences that have grown out of the agreement.

The two cities are similar in a few ways. They are both fertile growing areas and focus on processing local produce, and growing tourism, according to the statement.

The Hastings and Guilin sister-city relationship was suggested by horticultural scientist Don McKenzie in Hastings. He had links with the Guangxi Institute of Botany in Guilin.

Hastings and Guilin became the first China-New Zealand sister cities in 1981.

To date, China has set up 40 friendship-province or city relations with New Zealand.

"For 40 years, sister cities have served as a bridge of communication between China and New Zealand through promoting practical cooperation in various fields and complementing each other's comparative advantages," Wu Xi, Chinese ambassador to New Zealand, told Xinhua.

Hastings District Councillor Kevin Watkins said Hastings has strong economic links with China through horticulture exports, international education and many friendly-city relationships, which have been remarkably successful.

"It has helped us to understand each other and, particularly for our business people, facilitated an understanding of China's culture that has enabled them to spread their trading wings over much broader areas of China," he says.

Watkins added that the relationship has also raised awareness of Hastings in Guilin.

"As Chinese visitors to our shores have become more independent travelers, it has certainly increased the number of tourists getting off the well-worn Auckland-Rotorua-Queenstown track to come and visit our beautiful part of New Zealand," he says.

The primary focus of the celebrations, however, will be the Lighting of the Osmanthus Gardens, which, every year, celebrates the relationship with Guilin.

"It is always incredibly popular and this year we have additional space and lanterns ready, to help us celebrate what is a very special occasion," Watkins says.