Sister Cities International & Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries to host U.S.-China Sister Cities Conference

For Immediate Release:
March 19, 2014

Media Contact:
Megha Swamy
202-347-8637
[email protected]

WASHINGTON, DC – Sister Cities International and the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries will jointly host the 2014 U.S.-China Sister Cities Conference in Washington, DC, March 26-28. Over three days, more than 400 community leaders, citizen diplomats, business executives, educators, mayors, provincial leaders, and municipal officials from the U.S. and China will discuss strategies to grow and strengthen exchanges and business ties at the sub-national level.

WHEN:
March 26-28, 2014

WHERE:
Ronald Reagan Building & International Trade Center, 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20004

The Conference, highlighted in the 2013 U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue outcomes on sub-national cooperation, will begin with a reception at the Embassy of People’s Republic of China in Washington, DC on March 26. On March 27, the Conference will feature sessions on planning effective exchanges, energy and sustainable development programs, a Mayors and CEO panel, among others. It will also include an exclusive screening of the documentary Finding Samuel Lowe: From Harlem to China courtesy the Africa Channel. On March 28, the Conference will feature a panel discussion at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace on the Sino-African Initiative, a Sister Cities International program that addressed ways for U.S., Chinese, and African cities to collaborate on urban poverty and economic development issues in African cities.

“The conference is an exciting opportunity for engaged citizens, business leaders, educators and city officials to identify and discuss new initiatives and share expertise on strengthening sub-national partnerships” said Mary D. Kane, President and CEO, Sister Cities International. “Sister Cities International brings people together from across sectors and from around the world to address important global issues, and I’m looking forward to being a part of their 2014 U.S.-China Conference,” said Andrew O’Brien, Special Representative for Global Partnerships, U.S. Department of State. Special Representative O’Brien is participating as part of U.S. Department of State’s Global Partnerships Week.

General Colin L. Powell and several Governors, Members of Congress, and Mayors have served on the Conference’s Honorary Host Committee. For more information on the Honorary Host Committee, conference sessions, and speakers, please visit www.sistercities.org/USChina.

For details on interview opportunities, press passes, and to see a list of U.S. and Chinese mayors, city officials, and provincial leaders who’re attending, please contact Megha Swamy at [email protected] or 202-347-8637.

About Sister Cities International

Founded by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956, Sister Cities International is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, nonpartisan serving as the national membership organization for individual sister cities, counties, and states across the United States. This network unites tens of thousands of citizen diplomats of citizen diplomats from 500 U.S. communities with partnerships with over 2,000 cities in 140 countries around the globe.

Sister Cities International advances peace and prosperity through cultural, educational, humanitarian, and economic development exchanges. It serves as a hub for institutional knowledge and best practices in the field of citizen diplomacy.

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