bericht op brief van: Aan de voorzitter van Provinciale Staten van Zeeland p/a Statengriffier Uw kenmerk: ons kenmerk: 09024562/15 afdeling: Economie bijlage(n): 4 behandeld door: P.C. Bijkerk doorkiesnummer: (0118) 63 14 35 onderwerp: Handelsrelatie China verzonden: Middelburg, 7 juli 2009 Geachte voorzitter, Hierbij zenden wij u ter informatie een afschrift van de uitnodiging aan burgemeester Wang Yanwen uit Yangzhou voor een bezoek aan Zeeland toe. Van 13 april tot 24 april jongstleden heeft een handelsdelegatie vanuit Zuidwest Nederland onder leiding van de burgemeester Peter van der Velden uit Breda een bezoek gebracht aan de stad Yangzhou. West Brabant onderhoudt al enkele jaren een relatie met de stad Yangzhou en heeft nadat op een eerdere missie Zeeuwse bedrijven waren meegegaan, ook gevraagd of Zeeland bestuurlijk wilde aansluiten. De Provincie Zeeland was op deze missie ambtelijk vertegenwoordigd en heeft de mogelijkheden voor samenwerking verkend. Daarnaast hebben vanuit Zeeland de Kamer van Koophandel, Zeeland Seaports, de Brabants Zeeuwse Werkgevers, Impuls Zeeland en de gemeente Goes bestuurlijk aan deze missie deel- genomen. De eerste ervaringen van de handelsmissie bieden ons inziens voldoende aanknopingspunten voor het bedrijfsleven, onderwijs en overheden om de relatie verder te onderzoeken en uit te bouwen. Kennisuitwis- seling rond het thema water is hierbij een mogelijk speerpunt. Om praktische invulling hieraan te geven, hebben wij de burgemeester van Yangzhou uitgenodigd voor een bezoek aan Zeeland. Het thema water speelt een belangrijke rol bij dit tegenbezoek. Zo zullen in dit kader ondermeer de Hogeschool Zeeland en Zeeland Seaports worden bezocht. West-Brabant heeft twee jaar geleden een convenant afgesloten met Yangzhou waarin de regio Zuidwest Nederland wordt genoemd. Wij willen de relatie met Yangzhou uitbouwen vanuit Zuidwest Nederlands verband. Tijdens het bezoek van de Chinese delegatie willen wij onderzoeken of wij de relatie nader vorm kunnen geven door een formele aansluiting bij dit convenant of eventueel nieuw op te stellen convenant. V3.5 Waar mogelijk en gepast zullen wij ook zaken als maatschappelijk verantwoord ondernemen en mensen- rechten aan de orde brengen. Ter achtergrondinformatie hebben wij een korte beschrijving van de regio Yangzhou toegevoegd. Wij stellen u voor deze brief en de uitnodiging aan Burgemeester Wang Yanwen voor een tegenbezoek voor te leggen aan de leden van Provinciale Staten. Hoogachtend, gedeputeerde staten, ,voorzitter ,secretaris Behoort bij brief d.d. 7 juli 2009 met ons kenmerk: 09024562/15 2 van de afdeling Economie General Information Yangzhou Yangzhou, where Marco Polo once served as a municipal official, is a city with a history of 2,500 years, tracing back to the Spring and Autumn Period when it was called Guangling. The city was one of ten cities in the world around 1800 A.D, which had the largest population over half million. The city has been well known for its once brilliant historic role in Chinese history and one of the first 24 cities that were announced as the Historical and Cultural Cities in China. Until the 19th century, Yangzhou acted as a major national political, financial and trade center and a transport hub duo to its excellent location at the junction of the Yangtze, the Grand Canal and the Huaihe River. This historical period had left Yangzhou a large number of treasures, including valuable architectures and arts, splendid culture and well-known celebrities. Situated in the middle part of Jianghuai Plain and on the north bank of lower reaches of the Yangtze River, Yangzhou has now been one of national tourist centers and has attracted tourists worldwide. As a prefecture-level city jurisdiction, Yangzhou governs three urban districts and four satellite cities/county. As the improvement of financial situation in China and in Jiangsu province, the city has been receiving more financial funding in an intention from the governments to protect its old town for tourism. The project may bring a spending of millions of dollars in coming years and those old houses, alleys, lanes, originally facing tearing-down, would be under the new protective by-laws. Jurisdiction Yangzhou jurisdiction includes 7 county-level divisions, of which three are districts, one is county, three are cities. The three districts are the old urb an areas of Yangzhou while the county and cities are recently designated as county-level districts being considered as suburbs and governed by the city administration. The Yangzhou jurisdiction includes 97 towns and the municipal government stations in Weiyang District. • Guangling District • Hanjiang District • Weiyang District • Baoying County • Gaoyou City • Jiangdu City • Yizheng City Area and Population As a prefecture jurisdiction, Yangzhou has a population of 4.6 million and a land mass of 6,634 square kilometers. including three districts and four cities/county. The municipal area is on the north bank of Yangtze River and is about a hour of driving distance to Nanjing. Economy, Industry and Environment Yangzhou was once the economic, business and trade hub in China during the Ming and the Qing dynasties when the waterway was a major tool for transportation at the ancient time. Along with the thriving of railway and highway, Yangzhou’s significance nationwide was shrunk in the early and middle of the 20th century due to brockage of Yangtze River. Industrial sectors include automobile, shipbuilding manufacture, electrical cable, chemical, textile and food manufacture. Recent intense investments have added the new three pillar industries to the city: electronics/IT, new material and biotechnology. Traditional a griculture now takes only less than 10% of the city’s GDP. As a historical and cultural city, Yangzhou has a spectacular tourist industry and more than ten millions of tourists visited the city each year. Yangzhou have spent significant funds over years to protect its land and water resource. Many investment projects along Yangtze River have shown significance in environment pollution. The local government has been putting stiff environmental policies into practice and polluters are facing the tough inspection. The city has been awarded numerous national titles in environment protection, tourist attraction, courtesy, biological construction, etc. Transportation and Tourism Until the 19th century, Yangzhou acted as a transport hub due to its excellent water transport advantage at the junction where three bodies of water meet, including the Yangtze River, the Grand Canal and the Huaihe River. With the thriving of railway and air passages early of 19th centary, Yangzhou’s significance in transportation was weakened. Before 2002, Yangzhou’s transportation was mainly dependent upon its road and waterway network. The Yangtze River provides the city a traffic tool to travel and transport, however, in a large vision the river was a major natural obstacle that blocks the north of Jiangsu to communicate with the south of the province, an economically booming region. The city could only use the ferry or make a detour using Nanjing Yangt ze Bridge. There was no single railway available. The history was forever changed when the Ningqi (Nanjing-Qidong) Railway opened to the public in 2002. The opening of Runyang (Zhenjiang-Yangzhou) Yangtze River Highway Bridge has further improved the transportation situation of Yangzhou. The bridge is the fourth Yangtze River bridge in its Jiangsu section. The bridge connects the Runzhou District of Zhenjiang on the south bank of the river to Yangzhou City on the north. The bridge opened to the public in May 2005, bringing tremendous traffic convenience to Yangzhou to communicate the south of the province. Today, Yangzhou is a middle size of Chinese cities which has owned a remarkable transportation network including highways, expressways, railway and waterway. There is only one hour of driving distance to the Nanjing Lukou International Airport. In the inner city, the public transportation including bus, taxi and cargo transport, shuttle buses to near cities or towns, provides convenience to the city’s commuters and visitors. As a historical and cultural city, Yangzhou is a great city for tourists. There are more than 500 historical relics dotted in the everywhere of the city. Its cultural heritages, including lacquerware, paper cut, jade carvings, embroidery, have been selected by the Cultural Ministry of the State Council as China’s Non-material Culture Heritage. Most famous tourist destinations include Slender Western Lake, old residential structure Wang Residence, four public parks with a national reputation (Heyuan, Geyuan, ancient moated town, Puhading Cemetery), Daming Temple, etc. Yangzhou is a city where the ancient historical relics and residences are well under protection by the municipal government to prevent from desmantling the city’s ancient structures with a construction excuse. The city was awarded the Habitat Scroll of Honour in 2006 by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme . As the improvement of economy in China and in Jiangsu province, the city has been receiving more financial funding in an intention from governments to protect its old town for tourism. The project may bring a spending of millions of dollars in coming years and those old houses, alleys, lanes, originally facing tearing-down, would be under the new protective by-laws. Each year since 2000, Yangzhou has sponsored two festivals to promote the city's popularity: the Flowery March Tourist Festival from the middle of April to the middle of May, the other, the Moon Cultural Festival from September 8 to October 8. Today, Yangzhou is recognized as the most aspiring city of prosperity and civilization in the southeast of China and welcomes all visitors and investors around the world. Education Yangzhou University is a prestigious higher learning institution and has its primary campus in Yangzhou. Yangzhou Radio & TV University is a branch of China Radio & TV University, which is a vocational university and a far distance school using TV and radio. Yangzhou has well instituted compulsory primary education system, nearly all of school-age children are enrolled in schools.