A delegation from Nanchong, China, will visit Toledo on Monday.
While tensions between the United States and China may be high as national politicians threaten trade wars and arm themselves in the Taiwan Strait, the cities are looking forward to renewing their friendship.
“Given that this is a visit with Chinese officials and a Chinese sister city, I think that there is an additional layer to this visit,” Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz said. “Whatever the national politicians might have to say about China, I think at the grassroots level here in Toledo, we can transcend a lot of that just by focusing on the human needs that all people have whether they’re Chinese or American.”
He went on to talk about the importance of bringing the delegation to the middle of the country, to give them a fuller picture of what American life actually entails outside of the coasts that receive much of the media attention. While much of the visit will focus on simply getting to know Nanchong’s new mayor, Yin Nianhong, he hopes that visiting Toledo will shed new light on how the trade war affects midwestern cities.
Toledo founded the idea of sister cities with its Spanish namesake in 1931, and the concept has since spread across the country. Toledo itself has also continued developing these international relationships, as Nanchong is one of 12 active partnerships.
James Hartung, the former president of the Toledo Sister Cities board, explained that these bonds can be a great resource for the city.
“Establishing a sister city relationship is step one,” Mr. Hartung said. “But then by continued contact, we start to see lines of commonality that connect, and of course that leads to programming and delegations and seeking economic alliances, cultural alliances, artistic alliances, educational alliances, and that’s how you develop friendship.”
The Chinese representatives will begin their visit with a boat ride along the Maumee River to see some of the prominent sites along Toledo’s waterfront. From there, they will go to the Glass City Metropark for a meeting and luncheon with Mayor Kapszukiewicz and City Councilmen Cerssandra McPherson and Adam Martinez.
After lunch, Paul Zito, vice president of the regional growth partnership, will give a talk about economic opportunities in the area before the delegation goes to visit the University of Toledo.
“We’re trying to give them the ability to meet some different cultural, business, and political leaders in our area,” said Joe Walsh, interim president of Toledo Sister Cities. “A visit to the University of Toledo is important as it hopefully will facilitate educational exchange between our city and Nanchong. In the past, we’ve done that with other cities in our sister cities group throughout the world.”
Nanchong is a city of around 7 million people that has a largely agricultural-based economy. As such, Mr. Hartung believes that one of the next steps in the relationship is to continue tying the two cities’ economic interests together.
Mayor Kapszukiewicz added that he hopes the visit opens the door for larger-scale questions on the national level.
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