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Photo:  https://www.mayors.asia/

Foundation year: 9 Century AD

Population: 9,7 million people (2025).

Area: 730 km² (2018).

Time zone: GMT +3:30

Official web site: http://www.tehran.ir/

About the city:

Tehran is the capital and the largest city of Iran, as well as one of the biggest cities in Asia. It is the administrative, political, economic, transportation, trade, financial, and cultural center of the country.

Tehran is characterized by its diverse ethnic and religious groups. The city's population consists mainly of Persians, Azerbaijanis, and Mazanderani people. Islam is the dominant religion, other religious communities in Tehran include Armenians, Assyrians, Kurds, Jews, Bahá'ís, and Zoroastrians.

Before becoming the capital of Iran, Tehran was a large farming village. However, with the discovery of oil reserves in the country, industrialization started. Tehran's economy has grown significantly, and it has become a major economic and industrial center.

Today, Tehran remains the most important economic center in Iran, accounting for 35% of Iran's total industrial output and housing about 30% of its workers. In particular, over 50% of textiles and electronics consumed in Iran are manufactured in factories in Tehran.

There are various mechanical engineering and metalworking industries (12 car assembly plants and aircraft factories, as well as repair plants, radio equipment, televisions, washing machines, and refrigerators production), chemical, oil refining, and metallurgical industries are also present, as well as production of building materials and glass and porcelain products. Textiles, food, including a large tobacco factory, and leather and footwear industries are also represented. Most of these industrial enterprises are located in the western industrial zone of the city between Tehran and Karaj, with Iran Khodro being one of the largest enterprises, occupying an entire urban district and producing Samand cars.

The main sectors of economy include textiles, metallurgy, chemicals, oil refining, electrical engineering, aviation, automotive, pharmaceuticals, food, footwear, energy (including nuclear power), trade, transportation, agriculture (including wheat, legumes, vegetables, citrus fruits, grapes, pomegranates, cotton, flowers, particularly roses), mining of copper and lead-zinc ores, and building materials.

Several Russian companies operate in Tehran, primarily in the fields of oil and gas, nuclear energy, and other sectors:

Atomstroyexport

IRSOTR

Lukoil

Tatneft

Technopromexport

Joint events:

Kazan and Tehran cooperate within the framework of various international organizations:

·         The Asian Forum of Mayors

·         The World Organization of United Cities and Local Governments

·         Metropolis

·         UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities

Kazan participates in the activities of the Asian Forum of Mayors organization since its establishment in 2011 (with headquarters in Tehran).

On May 25, 2023, the Executive Bureau of the Asian Forum of Mayors was held in Kazan, attended by representatives from Russia, Iran, Turkey, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Abkhazia, and Armenia. The Islamic Republic of Iran was represented by cities such as Tehran, Arak, Bojnord, Gorgan, Zahedan, Qazvin, and Mashhad.

International awards:

The Kazan project “Reformation of the School Nutrition System”was awarded the prestigious Tehran Golden Adobe Global Award 2019 as the best in the category “Development of Local Self-Government, Planning and Management”. The award ceremony took place on November 2, 2019, in Tehran.

Representatives from Tehran take part in international events in Kazan, including:

– The round table of mayors as part of the Kazan Digital Week International Forum (2022);

– The training “Cities of Eurasia and Global Trends” (2023);

– The Kazanysh International Architectural and Construction Forum (2023);

– The founding meeting of the Association of BRICS+Cities and Municipalities (2024);

Representatives from Kazan take part in events in Tehran:

In 2022, a delegation from Kazan took part in the First Festival and Exhibition of Twin Cities in Tehran.

Meeting ofthe Mayor of KazanIlsurMetshinwith representatives from Tehran:

On May 25, 2023, Mayor IlsurMetshin of Kazan met with HamidrezaGholamzadeh, the Vice Mayor of Tehran, on the sidelines of a meeting of the Executive Bureau of the Asian Mayors' Forum.

On December 5, 2023 in Kazan, IlsurMetshin met with HamidrezaGholamzadeh and HamidrezaSaremi, the former Vice Mayor of Tehran and Chief Architect of the city during the Kazanysh International Architectural and Construction Forum.

On June 21, 2024, IlsurMetshinmet with Vice Mayor HamidrezaGholamzadeh of Tehran as part of the BRICS+ Cities InternationalForum in Kazan.

On August 27, 2024, Kazan Mayor Metshin met with Chairman of the Tehran City Council Mehdi Chamran in Moscow during the BRICS International Municipal Forum.

Tehran Vice Mayor HamidrezaGholamzadeh, who is also the Secretary General of the Asian Forum of Mayors, was appointed co-chair of the Association of BRICS+Cities and Municipalities. He attended a working meeting of this association on October 31, 2024 in Dubai, UAE.

On February 6–8, 2025, a delegation from Tehran led by HamidrezaSaremi, the Vice Mayor for Architecture and Urban Planning and Chief Architect of Tehran, participated in the Kazanysh International Architectural and Construction Forum.

On April 11, 2025, Tehran hosted a working meeting of representatives from Russia, China, Brazil, India, Indonesia, South Africa, and Iran, organized by the Association BRICS+ Cities and Municipalities. During the working visit of IlsurMetshin, an agreement on establishing friendly relations was signed.

Photo: commons.wikimedia.org

Document: Treaty of Cooperation (2003)

Year of foundation: 1666

Population: 434 thousand persons. (2020)

Area of the city: 365.7 km² (2021)

Time zone: GMT +8

Website: https://ulan-ude-eg.ru/

About the city:

Ulan-Ude is the capital of the Republic of Buryatia. Major cultural, scientific and industrial center of Eastern Siberia. There are offices of the largest Russian and regional banks, the Russian-Japanese Baikal Forest Company, and the Buryatzoloto Company in Ulan-Ude. There are 234 objects with the status of cultural heritage in the city. The city is part of the "Great Tea Route". Every year Ulan-Ude hosts Tsagan Sar - the New Year according to the lunar-solar calendar. The Trans-Siberian Railway and Baikal Federal Highway pass through Ulan-Ude.

Joint activities, contacts:

The city of Ulan-Ude has been a member of the Eurasian branch of the UCLG since 2005.

In 2012 the official visit of representatives of Ulan-Ude city to Kazan took place.

On September 19-23, 2023 the delegation of Ulan-Ude City Administration visited Kazan within the framework of the International Forum Kazan Digital Week-2023. On September 20, 2023, Igor Shutenkov, Mayor of Ulan-Ude, gave a welcome speech at the Mayors' Round Table «Artificial Intelligence in City Management».

On June 15, 2024, Rasikh Sagitov, Secretary General of UCLG-Eurasia, took part in the celebration of Ulan-Ude City Day. He has a meeting with Igor Shutenkov, Mayor of the city. The main topic of the negotiations was the development of cooperation within the framework of the UCLG-Eurasia’s activities, as well as the definition of the main vectors of work.

On September 24-27, 2024, a delegation of the Administration of Ulan-Ude, headed by Deputy Mayor, Chief of Staff of the Administration of Ulan-Ude Nikolai Namsaraev, visited Kazan on an official visit.

In 2024, within the framework of the cooperation agreement dated October 3, 2024, the municipal budgetary educational institution “Multidisciplinary Lyceum No. 187” of the Sovetsky district of Kazan and the state budgetary educational institution “Republican Buryat National Boarding Lyceum No. 1” of Ulan-Ude held seminars, pedagogical readings on current issues in the development of educational systems, and exchange of educational materials.

In 2024, within the framework of the cooperation agreement dated November 29, 2024, multidisciplinary Lyceum No. 187” of the Sovetsky District of Kazan and secondary School No. 7 of Ulan-Ude held joint seminars, pedagogical readings on current issues in the development of educational systems, and exchange of educational materials.

Photo: уфа.рф

Document: Agreement on Cooperation between the Administration of Kazan and the Administration of Ufa (1999),  Agreement on Сooperation in the field of tourism development between the municipality of Kazan (Republic of Tatarstan) and the Administration of Ufa (Republic of Bashkortostan) (2016), Protocol of Intentions between the cities of Kazan, Ekaterinburg, Ufa, Khabarovsk, Guangzhou, Qiqihar (2022)

Year of foundation: 1574

Population: 1.1 million people (2020)

City area: 708 km² (2021)

Time zone: GMT +5

Website: http://уфа.рф/

About the city:

Ufa is the capital of the Republic of Bashkortostan. It ranks among the largest economic, cultural and scientific centers of the Russian Federation. By decision of the Interstate Union of Cities-Heroes, Ufa was awarded the honorary international title "City of Labor Valor and Glory". The city's enterprises are engaged in oil refining, chemistry, and mechanical engineering.

Joint events, contacts:

Ufa is one of the members and founders of UCLG Eurasia since 2019, as well as a member of the Association of Cities of the Volga region since 2015, the city plays an active role within the framework of these organizations.

In 2016, an agreement on cooperation in the field of tourism development between the Kazan Municipality and the Administration of the Urban District of Ufa was signed.

On January 23, 2019, a delegation fr om the Republic of Bashkortostan visited Kazan.

On December 10, 2019, a delegation fr om Ufa visited renovated facilities in the Kirovsky and Moskovsky districts of Kazan.

On March 10, 2019, a delegation fr om Kazan visited Ufa on a working visit.

From 11 to 13 April 2019, the 24th specialized international exhibition "Tourism and Sports 2019" was held, wh ere Ufa took part as an exhibitor.

On December 11, 2019, a delegation from Ufa presented a personnel management system to representatives of the Executive Committee of Kazan.

Ufa provided great support to Kazan in Durban (South Africa) in November 2019 when Kazan Mayor Ilsur Metshin was elected as a President of the UN Advisory Council on Local Government.

On September 24, 2021, Rustam Galeev, Advisor of the Head of Ufa City District Administration, took part in the General Meeting of the Association of Volga Region Cities, which was held in Nizhny Novgorod.

In 2021 the delegation of Ufa visited the Committee on Transport and municipal unitary enterprises of urban passenger transport of Kazan to exchange experience.

Ratmir Mavliev, Head of Ufa City District Administration, took part in the General Meeting of the Association of Volga Region Cities, which was held on May 26, 2022 in Izhevsk.

On June 17, 2022, a six-party agreement was signed between Kazan, Yekaterinburg, Ufa, Khabarovsk and the Chinese cities of Guangzhou and Qiqihar. The meeting was held via videoconference between the cities of Russia and China.

On September 21, 2022, Ratmir Mavliev, Head of the Administration of the Urban District of Ufa, made a report at the meeting of the Mayors' Round Table «Digital Transformation of Management in the City», which was held within the framework of International Forum Kazan Digital Week - 2022.

On September 29 - 30, 2022 representatives of the Ufa Administration participated in the I Kazan International Legal Forum.

In 2022, advertising of the Kazan bicycle ride «Night Bikefest» was organized on media facades of Ufa.

On April 21, 2023, an online chess tournament «Friendship of Peoples» was held. It united teams from Kazan, Ufa, Khabarovsk, Yekaterinburg, Guangzhou and Qiqihar. The joint event was the first after the signing the six-party agreement between the cities of Russia and China in 2022, and was held to strengthen friendly relations. The event was organized by the Ufa city administration.

Head of Information Technology and Communications Department of Kazan Dmitry Kremlev and Director of the Municipal Budgetary Institution «Department of Telecommunication Technologies» Ruslan Avilov participated in the IV International Forum of Development and Digital Transformation of Cities «Smart City - Smart Country», which took place in Ufa on July 26-28, 2023.

On October 6, 2023 the General Meeting of Association of Volga Cities, which was held in Perm, was attended by the Mayor of Kazan Ilsur Metshin, wh ere the new Chairman of the Association of Volga Cities Ratmir Mavliev, Head of Ufa Administration, was elected.

On October 25 - 28, 2023 Head of the Department of Economy and Investment of the Ufa Administration Timur Khafizov took part in the events of the World Organization «United Cities and Local Governments», which were held in Konya (Turkey).

On November 1, 2023 an online meeting of the round table of participants of the Protocol of Intentions between Kazan, Yekaterinburg, Ufa, Khabarovsk, Guangzhou and Qiqihar was held. Ruslan Ismagilov, Head of the Department of External Economic Relations of the Administration of the Ufa city Administration of the Republic of Bashkortostan, took part in this event.

On June 6-7, 2024, a delegation from the Ufa City District Administration, headed by First Deputy Head of the Administration Sergey Kozhevnikov, visited Kazan in order to exchange best municipal practices in various sectors of the urban economy.

On June 21-22, 2024, the delegation of Ufa headed by Ratmir Mavliev, the Head of the Ufa city municipal district administration, the Chairman of the Association of Cities of the Volga Region, visited Kazan to participate in the International Forum of the BRICS+ Cities. 

On the night of August 17-18, 2024, participants from Ufa took part in the "Night Bikefest" in Kazan.

On August 31, 2024, the Mayor of Kazan Ilsur Metshin took part in events to celebrate the 450th anniversary of Ufa. On this occasion, a video congratulation was prepared from the city of Kazan.

A team of chess players from the city of Ufa took part in a chess tournament within the framework of the II International Forum “SPROUTS: Russia and China - mutually beneficial cooperation”, which was held on November 14-15, 2024 in Kazan.

On December 25, 2024, a delegation from the Civil Protection Department of the urban district of the city of Ufa of the Republic of Bashkortostan visited the Civil Protection Department of the Executive Committee of Kazan in order to familiarize itself with the implementation of initial measures in the event of emergencies involving the use of UAVs.

In 2024, as part of an agreement on cooperation and partnership within the framework of a long-term consortium for the development of school engineering and technological education in the Russian Federation dated September 28, 2020, cooperation between Lyceum No. 35 - educational center "Galaktika" of the Privolzhsky district of Kazan with Lyceum No. 60 named after Mikhail Alekseevich Ferin of Ufa and Education Center No. 51 named after V.M.Parashchenko of Ufa.

On February 19, 2025, Viktor Zakirov, a leading specialist of the Department of Architecture and Urban Development of Kazan, took part in the round table «Integrated development of territories – building the city of the future», which took place in Ufa as part of the International Forum and Exhibition «UralStroyIndustriya».

On April 8-10, 2025, a delegation from Ufa visited Kazan to exchange experiences and discuss the development of Kazan and Ufa.

The Mayor of Ufa Ratmir Mavliev took part in the General Assembly of the BRICS+ Association of Cities and Municipalities, which was held on May 26-28, 2025 in Marica, Brazil. The Head of the Main Department of Architecture and Urban Development of Ufa Ruslan Khairullin spoke at the session Architecture and Urban Development. At the General Assembly, a meeting was held between the Mayor of Ufa Ratmir Mavliyev and the Mayor of Kazan Ilsur Metshin with the Mayor of Tehran Alireza Zakani, wh ere they discussed their experience and plans for cooperation between the cities.

Photo: commons.wikimedia.org

Documents: Cooperative Agreement (1998), Agreement on mutual cooperation in the field of tourism between the Department of Property Relations, Economics and Competition Development of the Ulyanovsk City Administration and the Committee for Tourism Development of Kazan (2019)

Year of foundation: 1648

Population: 627,000. (2020)

Area of the city: 316 km² (2021)

Time zone: GMT +4

Website: http://www.ulmeria.ru/

About the city:

Ulyanovsk is the administrative center of Ulyanovsk region. The basis of the city's economy - is the automotive industry, engine building, aircraft construction, instrumentation, machine building and metal working, also developed power generation, retail trade and capital construction. Decree of the President of the Russian Federation on July 2, 2020 the city was awarded the title “City of Labor Valor”.

Joint activities, contacts:

Ulyanovsk has been a member of the UCLG Eurasia since 2007, is also a member and one of the founders of Association of Cities of Volga Region since 1998, is active within the framework of these organizations.

Took an active part in the project Great Volga Way.

On June 6, 2015, the Head of Zavolzhsky District Administration of Ulyanovsk and the Head of Aviastroitelny and Novo-Savinovsky Districts Administration of Kazan signed a cooperation agreement. The agreement provides for the implementation of joint projects and initiatives in the social and industrial spheres, small business development, scientific and technical developments and improvement of the management system.

On April 5, 2016, a delegation fr om Ulyanovsk, headed by the Deputy of the Ulyanovsk City Duma Alsu Aizatullina, visited Kazan. As part of the visit there was a meeting with the Director of the Department of Food and Social Nutrition.

From May 25 to 28, 2016, the delegation headed by Sergey Panchin, Mayor of Ulyanovsk, took part in the Executive Bureau of the UCLG.

On August 12, 2016 the Agreement on Mutual Cooperation in the Field of Tourism was signed between the Department of Entrepreneurship Development, Investments and Consumer Market of Ulyanovsk Administration and Committee of Tourism Development Assistance of Kazan.

From April 11 to 13, 2019 the 24th Specialized International Exhibition "Tourism and Sports 2019" took place, wh ere Ulyanovsk was present as an exhibitor.

On August 7, 2019, the Ulyanovsk delegation took part in the Agency for Strategic Initiatives Strategic Session in Kazan.

City, provided great support to Kazan in Durban, South Africa in November 2019 when Mayor of Kazan Ilsur Metshin was elected President of the UN Advisory Council on Local Government.

On October 19-20, 2020, a delegation from Ulyanovsk led by Ulyanovsk Mayor Sergey Panchin visited Kazan and personally participated (as listeners) in the Forum of Twin Cities and Municipal Entities of BRICS - 2020.

On December, 18, 2020, Head of Ulyanovsk Sergey Panchin took part in the General Meeting of Members of the Association of Cities of the Volga Region in Kazan.

On April 9-10, 2021 the Department of property relations, economy and development of competition Ulyanovsk city administration took part in the 25th international specialized exhibition "Tourism. Sports. Active recreation".

On September, 24th, 2021 the Deputy Head of Ulyanovsk city Elena Cherkas took part in the General meeting of members of the Association of Volga region cities, which took place in Nizhny Novgorod.

In 2022, as part of the «blogger exchange» project, Kazan and Ulyanovsk implemented a joint project on «cross-blogging tour» of popular bloggers. On April 25-26, a group of bloggers from Ulyanovsk visited Kazan. On April 28- 29, a group of bloggers from Kazan paid a return visit to Ulyanovsk.

Dmitry Vavilin, Head of Ulyanovsk, took part in the General Meeting of the Association of Volga Region Cities, which was held on May 26, 2022 in Izhevsk.

Deputy Head of the Municipality of Kazan Evgenia Lodvigova took part in the XXII Federal Sabantuy, which was held on June 17 - 18, 2022 in Ulyanovsk.

Representatives of the Ulyanovsk Administration took part in the I Kazan International Legal Forum, which was held on September 29 - 30, 2022.

Chairman of the Ulyanovsk City Council Ilya Nozhechkin was a member of the delegation of the Eurasian branch of UCLG, headed by the Mayor of Kazan Ilsur Metshin, and took part in the World Congress of Local and Regional Authorities in Daejeon on October 10 - 14, 2022.

On November 2, 2022, representatives of the Ulyanovsk Administration visited Kazan to study the experience of the Joint Stock Company «Department of Food and Social Nutrition of Kazan».

Organization of a cross-blog tour within the framework of the agreement reached between Kazan and Ulyanovsk on mutual visits of their active representatives of the Internet community and opinion leaders with subsequent publication of materials about the host city. Each party organized a full program of stay for the visiting group. The group from Ulyanovsk stayed in Kazan on April 25 - 26, 2022, and the group from Kazan stayed in Ulyanovsk on April 28 - 29, 2022.

On May 25 - 26, 2023, Ilya Nozhechkin, Chairman of the Ulyanovsk City Council, personally participated in the Eurasian training «Eurasian Cities and Global Trends», which was held in Kazan.

A team of chess players from Ulyanovsk took part in a tournament within the framework of the event «United Cities Forum» (UCF), which was held on September 7 - 8, 2023 in Kazan during the International Forum «SPROUTS: Russia and China - mutually beneficial cooperation».

On October 6, 2023 the General Meeting of the Association of Cities of the Volga Region was held in Perm, which was personally attended by the Chairman of the Ulyanovsk City Council Ilya Nozhechkin.

Delegation of Ulyanovsk took part in the International Architectural and Construction Forum «Kazanysh», which was held from December 5 - 7, 2023 in Kazan. 

On the night of August 17-18, 2024, participants from Ulyanovsk took part in the "Night Bikefest" in Kazan.

A team of chess players from the city of Ulyanovsk took part in a chess tournament within the framework of the II International Forum “SPROUTS: Russia and China - mutually beneficial cooperation,” which was held on November 14-15, 2024 in Kazan.

In 2024, within the framework of the cooperation agreement dated November 23, 2024, multidisciplinary Gymnasium No. 189 “Zaman” of the Kirovsky district of Kazan and the Secondary School No. 63 of the city of Ulyanovsk implemented joint projects of a methodological, educational, educational, sports and cultural nature, exchanged experience in the field of inclusive education of primary schools and the implementation of additional education programs.

In 2024, as part of an agreement on cooperation and partnership within the framework of a long-term consortium for the development of school engineering and technological education in the Russian Federation dated September 28, 2020, cooperation between Lyceum No. 35 - the educational center "Galaxy" of the Privolzhsky district of Kazan with the Governor's Engineering Lyceum No. 102 of the city of Ulyanovsk and Gymnasium No. 30 of the city of Ulyanovsk.

Photo: commons.wikimedia.org

Document: Mutual Cooperation Agreement (2001)

Year of foundation: 300 B.C.

Population: 15,000 (2021)

Area: 226 km² (2020)

Time Zone: GMT +1

Website: http://www.comune.urbino.ps.it/

About city:

Urbino is an ancient city in eastern Italy, a historical, cultural and educational center. Known as the birthplace of Raphael Santi. During the Renaissance, Urbino was called the "Ideal City" because it represented a harmony of beauty and intelligent organization of space.

The historic part of the city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

University of Urbino "Carlo Bo" was founded in 1506 as one of the first in Europe. With several quite significant universities and language schools opened in the city, about half of the city's population are students.

Photo: Harbin Municipality 

Document: Memorandum of Friendly Cooperation between the cities of Kazan (Republic of Tatarstan, Russian Federation) and Harbin (People's Republic of China) (2006).

Year of foundation: 1898 

Population: 9.82 million (2023)

City area: 53.1 thousand km²

Time zone: GMT+8

Website: https://www.harbin.gov.cn/haerbin/c104447/s_index.shtml

About the city:

Harbin is the administrative center of Heilongjiang Province, located in the middle reaches of the Sungari River on the Sunliao Plain. The development of the city is connected with its historical role as the center of the railway network of Northeast China, connected to the Trans-Siberian Railway. The first inhabitants of the city were builders and employees of the Chinese Eastern Railway. In this regard, Harbin has preserved many Russian buildings, including the majestic Orthodox Cathedral of St. Sophia with green domes.

Harbin is known for its unique beauty, extraordinary architecture and atmosphere. It attracts lovers of winter tourism, and the annual International Ice and Snow Festival, held since 1963, makes the city doubly attractive to tourists fr om all over the world. Every year artists from different countries transform more than a hundred thousand cubic meters of ice and the same number of snow into a magical winter city. Harbin is called the «Ice City» for its extraordinary landscapes, beautiful neighborhoods and snowy winters.

Joint activities, contacts:

On 13-18 June, 2006, the official delegation from Kazan visited Harbin, during which a Memorandum of Cooperation between the cities of Harbin and Kazan was signed.

In February 2009, the Mayor of Kazan Ilsur Metshin, as part of a delegation from the Republic of Tatarstan, visited Harbin and took part in the opening ceremony of the 2009 World Winter Universiade.

In May 2015, series of meetings were held to attract students and pupils of educational institutions of Harbin to study the Russian language. Several meetings were held between Kazan Federal University (KFU) representatives and students from two schools to attract students to attend the Bachelor's program in the Russian language. This included meetings with students from the Russian language departments of Harbin University and Heilongjiang University of Science and Technology. There were made presentations about KFU.

On 5-6 September, 2016, an official visit of the Harbin delegation to Kazan led by the Mayor of Harbin, Mr. Song Xibin, took place. During the visit, the delegation met with the President of the Republic of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov and Mayor of Kazan Ilsur Metshin and discussed issues of mutually beneficial cooperation.

On July 9, 2018, a meeting between the Deputy Head of the Kazan Municipality Lyudmila Andreeva and the First Secretary of the City Committee of the Communist Party of China, Mr. Wang Zhaoli was held at the Kazan City Hall. The meeting was also attended by the Head of the Foreign Affairs Office of Harbin Mr. Gao Huimin, Head of the commercial department Mr. Ji Pin, Head of the science and technology department Mr. Li Zhijie, Head of the culture, radio and television broadcasting and press department Gou Qingjie, the Consul General of China in Kazan Mr. Wu Yingqin, Consul of the Consulate General of China in Kazan Mr. Tian Zhi. Presentation of Kazan were made by Deputy Heads of the Kazan Executive Committee Ildar Shakirov and Radik Shafigullin, Head of the Culture Department of the Kazan Executive Committee Azat Abzalov. The parties discussed possibilities of cooperation between Kazan and Harbin in the field of economics and culture.

On July 13, 2018, President of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov and Governor of China's Heilongjiang Province Wang Wentao signed an agreement on trade, economic, scientific, technical and cultural cooperation between the regions in the Kazan Kremlin.

The visit of the Tatarstan delegation, timed to coincide with the VI Russian-Chinese EXPO-2019, took place on June 15-19, 2019. The Action Plan to the Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Tatarstan and the People's Government of Heilongjiang Province on trade, economic, scientific, technical and cultural cooperation was signed in the International Exhibition and Convention Centre of Harbin. Rich program of the visit included various official and business events such as the meeting of the President of the Republic of Tatarstan with the Governor of Heilongjiang Province Wang Wentao, participation of the Tatarstan delegation in the Business Forum «Tatarstan-Heilongjiang» and visiting the exposition of the VI Russian-Chinese EXPO 2019. The delegation of the Republic of Tatarstan headed by President Rustam Minnikhanov opened the Days of Economy and Culture of the Republic of Tatarstan within the framework of the working visit to the city of Harbin of the People's Republic of China.

On September 25, 2019, the Kazan Executive Committee welcomed a delegation from Harbin. The meeting was attended by Deputy Head of the Executive Committee of the capital of Tatarstan Radik Shafigullin, Chairman of the Tourism Development Committee Darya Sannikova and Acting Chairman of the Economic Development Committee Guzel Mingazova. The Chinese delegation included Zhang Wangping, Deputy Mayor of the People's Government of Harbin, Sha Xiaodong, Deputy Head of the Department of Tourism, Broadcasting, Television and Culture, Li Yanan, Deputy Head of the Department of Commerce, Liu Zhengjiang, Chairman of the Administration of Harbin Comprehensive Duty-Free Zone, Ji Yuijia, Head of the Europe and Asia Department of the Foreign Affairs Department of the People's Government of Harbin, and others. The Chinese side expressed its willingness to exchange experience in culture, tourism and education.

In 2021, Kazan and Harbin held an online conference on cooperation between the two cities to exchange experience on coronavirus prevention.

On 6 January 2022, representatives of Kazan participated in the Forum on Strengthening Cooperation between Harbin and the Sister Cities as listeners in an online format.

Harbin representatives took part in the United Cities Forum (UCF) held in Kazan on September 7-8, 2023, within the framework of the International Forum «SPROUTS: Russia and China - Mutually Beneficial Cooperation». Mr. Jiang Chuanhai, Vice-Mayor of Harbin, and Cao Ru, director of the Foreign Affairs Office, spoke on «Preservation of Historical Heritage as the Basis of the City's Identity» at the Plenary Session of the Forum. During the event the Harbin delegation headed by Mr. Jiang Chuanhai, Deputy Mayor of Harbin, met with Deputy Mayor of Kazan Evgeniya Lodvigova, wh ere the parties signed the Protocol of the meeting between the representatives of Kazan and Harbin and agreed to develop friendship and mutual understanding between Russian Federation and China.

A delegation from Harbin participated in the International Architectural and Construction Forum «Kazanysh», which was held on December 5-7, 2023 in Kazan. Ms. Chen Jianfei, Chief Architect of Harbin, Director of the Architectural Construction and Research Institute at Harbin Polytechnic University, dedicated her speech to identity as the most important resource for the development of modern cities. During the forum delegates from Harbin participated in discussions and presentations. In addition to active participation in the forum, the delegation from China visited a number of interesting architectural sites and major attractions of Kazan, such as the Kul Sharif Mosque, the Cathedral of Annunciation of the Kazan Kremlin, the Cathedral of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, the Palace of Farmers and the Family Center «Kazan», the City Museum «Panorama» and the House Museum of Vladimir Lenin. The delegates' program included a tour in Kazan State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering and a meeting with First Deputy Director of the Investment Development Agency of the Republic of Tatarstan Insaf Galiev.

On May 16-20, 2024, the Kazan delegation headed by Deputy Head of the Kazan Executive Committee Ildar Shakirov visited the city of Harbin (PRC). As part of the trip, representatives of the Kazan City Hall took part in the Conference on interaction and development of cooperation between Harbin, Shenzhen and the cities of the Russian Federation and visited Pavilion VIII of the Russian-Chinese EXPO. The trip ended with an official meeting of the delegation of the city of Kazan with the leadership of the city of Harbin represented by the Deputy Mayor of the People's Government of the city of Harbin Tan Lewei, the deputy head of the Office of Foreign Affairs of the People's Government of the city of Harbin Wang Ning, and the Deputy Head of the Department of Commerce of the city of Harbin Liu Ming. The parties discussed key areas of cooperation between the cities of Harbin and Kazan.

On June 21-23, 2024, a delegation from Harbin headed by Ms. Wang Ning, deputy director of the Foreign Affairs Office of Harbin Municipality, visited Kazan to participate in the International Forum of the BRICS+ Cities. 

On February 6-8, 2025, a delegation from Harbin visited Kazan to participate in the international architectural and construction forum «Kazanysh». Song Liwei, Deputy Head of the Harbin Department of Natural Resources and Urban Planning, made a report at the first meeting of the Architecture and Urban Development Committee of the Association of BRICS+ Cities and Municipalities, the association of chief architects of BRICS+ cities, and at the round table discussion: «Cities on the water. User stories that bring urban residents "on the water"».

Photo: Khabarovsk City Administration

Year of foundation: 1858

Population: 613 thousand people (2021)

City area: 389 km2

Time zone: GMT +9

Website: https://khv27.ru/

About the city:

Khabarovsk is the administrative center of Khabarovsk federal subject. One of the largest political, educational and cultural center of the Russian Far East.

There are 23 universities, 7 museums and one art gallery in the city. The World Ball Hockey Championship was held here five times.

The Federal Ministry for the Development of the Far East, the headquarters of the Eastern Military District and about two hundred regional bodies of federal power and administration are located in Khabarovsk.

Khabarovsk it is a member of the Association of Siberian and Far Eastern Cities. Khabarovsk is a «City of Military Glory».

Joint events, contacts:

On June 17, 2022, an agreement between Kazan, Yekaterinburg, Ufa, Khabarovsk and the Chinese cities of Guangzhou and Qiqihar was signed. The meeting was held via videoconference.

On September 21, 2022 the Mayor of Khabarovsk Sergey Kravchuk made a report at the session of the Mayors' Round Table «Digital transformation of management in the city», which was held in the framework of the International Forum Kazan Digital Week - 2022. 

On April 21, 2023 an online chess tournament «Friendship of Peoples» was held. It united teams from Kazan, Ufa, Khabarovsk, Yekaterinburg, Guangzhou and Qiqihar. The joint event was the first after the signing of the six-party agreement between the cities of Russia and China in 2022, and was designed to strengthen friendly relations. The event was organized by the administration of Ufa.

A team of chess players from Khabarovsk took part in a chess tournament as part of the «United Cities Forum» (UCF) event, which was held on September 7 - 8, 2023 in Kazan within the framework of the International Forum «ROSTKI: Russia and China - mutually beneficial cooperation».

On September 20, 2023, Igor Mikhailovsky, Vice-Mayor of Khabarovsk, made a report at the Mayors' Round Table «Artificial Intelligence in City Management» within the framework of the International Forum Kazan Digital Week-2023.

On November 1, 2023, an online roundtable meeting between the participants of the The Protocol of Intentions was held. Tatyana Ivanova, Head of International Relations Department of the Khabarovsk Administration, took part in this event.

Photo: flickr.com/photos/youngshanahan

Document:Agreement on the establishment of partnership between the city of Kazan and the city of Hebron (2019)

Year of foundation: c. 2200 B.C.

Population: 199,000 (2021)

City area: 2,900 km2

Time Zone: GMT +2

Website: http://www.hebron-city.ps/

About the city:

Hebron is the largest city in the southern part of the West Bank. It is one of the four Holy cities along with the other "four lands of life": Jerusalem, Tiberias and Safed. In February 2010 the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided to include the Cave of the Forefathers in Hebron and Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem as national heritage sites.

Joint events, contacts:

On December 10, 2019 the Kazan City Hall hosted a meeting with a delegation from the Palestinian province of Hebron. The parties discussed the prospects of cooperation - the meeting was attended by representatives of investment companies and manufacturing enterprises of Palestine, the Arab Cultural Center in St. Petersburg.

In 2020, the Mayor of Hebron, Taysir Abu Snenya, sent a video greeting on the 100th anniversary of TASSR.

Фото: commons.wikimedia.org

Year of foundation: 1592

Population: 3 million (2021)

Area: 650 km² (2020)

Time zone: GMT +5:30

Website: http://ghmc.gov.in/

About city:

Hyderabad is a city in southern India that is one of India's most important centers of industry and commerce.

It has well developed light industry, food processing, glass, paper, tobacco, and pharmaceuticals, mechanical engineering; widespread handicrafts. Hyderabad is the center of the computer industry; research and design organizations of the military-industrial complex of India are concentrated in the city. Hyderabad is sometimes referred to as the "Pearl City", as pearls of all varieties have been available there for many years.

Joint events, contacts:

On October 19, 2020, representatives of Hyderabad participated in the BRICS Twinning Cities and Municipalities Forum 2020 held in Kazan in an online format.

On June 21-23, 2024, the representative of Hyderabad, Basava Bhaaskara, Director of Roerich Healthcare, President of the South Indian-Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, President of the Business Forum of South India and Russia, visited Kazan to participate in the International Forum of the BRICS+ Cities.