Mayor and Deputy Mayor to visit China

Mayor Neil Sinclair and Deputy Mayor Jenny Shattock are attending the International Mayoral Forum on Tourism (IMFT) to be held in Zhengzhou in China on 15 and 18 November.

Mayor Sinclair is the only Mayor in New Zealand to be specially invited by the IMFT organisers; a testament to the respect the South Waikato has built with the Chinese Consul General and tourism and business leaders.

This relationship is built from Council's first visit to China in 2008 and subsequent visits to the South Waikato by the Chinese Consul General accompanied by tourism and business leaders over the past years.

"Our goal is to promote New Zealand and particularly the South Waikato to the forum representatives, that will include mayors representing 60 cities," said Mayor Sinclair. "Investment opportunities in our district are appealing to the Chinese. We have spent many years building these relationships across both the tourism and business sectors; and we are certainly starting to see the fruits of those efforts."

The Mayor and Deputy Mayor will be participating in a panel discussion on how to use the tourism industry to build the international destination capacity.

The Mayor and Deputy will also be visiting the city of Yichun. This city is interested in a future of cooperation and sharing with our district along the lines of sister city principles. While considerably larger than the South Waikato, Yichun is closely aligned in terms of similar industries and exports like forestry and timber.

A reciprocal visit by mayors and heads of Yichun City, Zhangshu City and Yifeng County is planned for December/January. Ends: words: 262