Issues of cooperation between Kazan and Heze were discussed in Executive Committee

Both parties are prepared to cooperate in the socio-economic sphere.

(KZN.RU, July 26, Alina Berezhnaya). Today the meeting of the representatives of the Executive Committee of Kazan with delegation from the Chinese Heze city has been held in the Tatarstan capital city. The parties have discussed the prospects for interregional cooperation in the socio-economic sphere.

Evgenia Lodvigova, the first deputy head of the Kazan Municipality, welcomed the guests from China. She noted that nowadays Kazan has four sister cities in China - Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Shenzhen, and Chengdu. “We’ve repeatedly visited these cities, we have a close partnership not only at the municipal, but also international level. For example, the Mayor of Guangzhou, as well as the Mayor of Kazan, is a co-president of the United Cities and Local Governments. We exchange experience in the town-planning, housing and utilities, the retention of architectural monuments, also the specific value has the development of tourism among cities“, - Е.Lodvigova told.

In 2018, Kazan was visited by 12,5 thousand tourists from China. For the comfortable staying in the Tatarstan capital city the training for tour guides is paid attention who know the Chinese language, and the China Friendly program is widely used in hotels.

In turn, Gao Zhungo, the deputy of the Mayor of Heze, noted that Kazan is a very beautiful, progressive and dynamical city with the advanced sports infrastructure. He looked forward to developing between the Chinese city and Kazan in economical, sports, cultural spheres, and these cities could be the sister cities in the future.

The Chinese delegation expressed interest in the sports life of the city. Lenar Garifullin, the acting chairman of the Committee of Physical Culture and Sport, told that 45% of the residents of Kazan are engaged in sport, 2053 sports structures have been constructed for them. There are 30 sport schools for children and adolescents in Kazan where 19360 athletes could participate in sports. “The most popular kinds of sports are art gymnastics, football, athletics, hockey, swimming. Since 2018, we’ve been developing a synchronized swimming and triathlon“, - L.Garifullin told.

As it turned out, the Heze inhabitants are involved in sports life of the city too, moreover, football is paid specific attention. Wang Wen-Ke, the director of football school of Heze, offered to organise a football tournament among sports schools of Kazan and Heze, as well as to exchange experience between the coachs of two countries.

The participants of the meeting has discussed the organization of theme events in the Kazan parks. “We have experience of engaging with different countries, for example, we held the Days of Switzerland, - Marat Zakirov, the director of the MBU “Directorate of Parks and Squares”, said. - We are always glad to see you and ready to show your city in our social spaces“.

At the end of the meeting the parties have exchanged the memorable gifts.

Daria Sannikova, the director of the Tourism Promotion Committee, Artur Valiakhmetov, the chairman of the Economic Development Committee of Heze, Shi Chunhua, the head of the Departament of Physical Culture and Sports Affairs of Heze, Gāo Chen, the deputy director of the Department of Foreign Affairs of Heze, Zhang Jian-Guo, the deputy director of the Committee of International Trade Development of Heze, and others.

Photo report

The meeting with the Chinese Heze city delegation, 07/26/2019