Page 3423 - Week 11 - Wednesday, 23 September 2015
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as well as the millions of interstate and international visitors who come to our city. In addition, the local Chinese community’s 2010 gift of a Confucius statue in Dickson, marking the 10th anniversary of the sister city agreement, was a further and incredibly generous way for Canberra’s Chinese community to show their appreciation of our city.
It is encouraging this afternoon that Mr Smyth is calling on the ACT government to continue to progress the sister city relationship, given this is in fact what has been occurring for the last 14 years. I take the opportunity this afternoon to acknowledge that this relationship was formalised under the Carnell government. I also wish to put on the record, of course, that it has been Labor governments that have been working hard to reach a number of milestones in this relationship. I could go back in history and acknowledge the role of Prime Minister Whitlam, initially as opposition leader, in the recognition of the People’s Republic of China. I think this is something that we can certainly claim as a big part of Labor and Labor’s tradition. We will continue to focus on the future whilst recognising the significant achievements and efforts on both sides of politics in the past.
Our most recent trade mission to China in April this year was strongly geared towards progressing the sister city relationship and facilitating positive collaborative relationships which showcase the strength of our partnership. When I met with the Mayor of Beijing, Mr Wang Anshun, one of the priorities for our discussion was the continued support between our two cities for exchanges of cultural and economic benefit.
It was during this visit that we were able to secure next year’s exhibition in Canberra—Qing: Life in China, 1644-1911—an exhibition direct from Beijing’s National Library of China. Mayor Wang was especially proud that the exhibition was travelling to Canberra, believing it was only fitting and that the sister city was the perfect place with which to share these highly regarded and deeply personal Chinese treasures. The Qing: Life in China exhibition is a one-off, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that is exclusive to Canberra and a superb demonstration of the cultural exchange between the Australian and Chinese people and the importance of our sister city relationship.
This visit also recognised the importance of partnerships between our universities and those in Beijing. The continued education collaboration is very important to our relationship. The ACT government continues to support our higher education and research sectors through a range of deliberate policy outcomes and program support because we know it is critical to driving innovation and in building the knowledge base and human capital that Canberra needs in this new century.
At Beijing’s Peking University and Beijing’s Renmin University, we promoted the ACT’s education credentials and renewed agreements that deliver student articulation programs, staff exchange programs and joint research collaboration programs. There are many opportunities like this between our two cities.
Our partnerships with Beijing’s premier universities add to our city’s global standing and promote us internationally to an increasingly larger audience. So the foundation
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