Twin City: Jinhua

Panoramic picture of the City Jinhua

Jinhua, a city in the heart of the Chinese province Zhejian, is the youngest twin city of Düren. On an area of 301 square kilometers are living 350,000 people. The city is not only the seat of the regional administration of four cities (Lanxi, Yiwu, Dongyan, Yongkang) but also of three counties (Jinhua, Pujian, Pan’an) and of the district Wucheng. This region stretches out over an area of 10,918 square kilometers with 4.38 million citizens. This makes Jinhua an important city and region in the center of the province Zhejian with a distinctive infrastructure.

In the last few years, the economic development of Jinhua has accelerated. The province Zhejian is one of the most economically prosperous provinces in the People's Republic of China, thanks to its geographical position near the coast, about 300km south of Shanghai.
The supporting pillars of the industry are mechanical engineering, the textile and food industry as well as the chemical and the pharmaceutical industry and the industrial production of building materials. Sidelines are metallurgy, the paper, plastic, leather, and electrical industries. Jinhua is also an important place for goods turnover. The city Yiwu, for example, is the biggest market for every day goods in China. The cities Jinhua and Yiwu possess together the national airport with a direct air connection to Guangzhou, Beijing, Shenzhen, and many other major cities in China. Jinhua holds rich natural resources and strongly developed agriculture and livestock farming. According to a saying, Jinhua is "the second granary for Zhejang". The "ham of Jinhua", famous throughout China, has been produced here for more than 800 years.
The scenic surrounding of Jinhua is famous for its beauty and offers many historical sights. Popular destinations and tourist attractions, for example, the Shuanglong-stalactite cave, the bizarre cliffs of Yongkong, the six cave mountains of Lanxi, and the hot wells of Wuyi.

The Streets of Jinhua are a brisk business. The picture shows a crosswalk in the city center.

Culture connects! The partnership with Jinhua began with a trip to China by the Jugend-Jazz-Orchester (Youth Jazz Orchestra) under the direction of Düren's music professor Wolfgang Breuer that included a performance. After the first correspondence, the official contacts with Düren were made in 1998, followed by the visits of Chinese delegations to Düren. This allowed the cities to get to know each other and to find common ground between them.

In 2001, the council of the City of Düren made the unanimous decision to "intensify the existing contacts with the city Jinhua and to build a partnership between Jinhua and Düren". A little more than a year later, on October 24th 2002, Mayor Paul Larue and his counterpart Lou Yangsheng signed the agreement of a partnership connection between the two cities during the first official visit of a delegation from Düren to Jinhua. The agreement says that the partnership is to encourage the mutual comprehension of the citizens of Düren and Jinhua. It is supposed to strengthen the economic and cultural partnership and contribute to the wealth of both cities.

www.jinhua.gov.cn