On April 22, an online matchmaking meeting was held between the Ningxia People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (NPAFFC) and Tula Branch of the Russian-Chinese Friendship Society (RCFS). Fan Huafeng, Deputy Director-General of the Ningxia Foreign Affairs Office (NXFAO), Ivan Borisovich Arkhipov, Vice President of the RCFS, Mikhail Grigorievich Glukhov, President of the Tula Branch of RCFS, as well as heads of relevant government departments of Tula Oblast and Tula State Pedagogical University, attended the meeting.

At the meeting, an introduction of Ningxia and Tula Oblast was given by the two sides, respectively, and views exchanged on deepening the international friendship city relationship and expanding cooperation in various fields. Fan Huafeng, Deputy Director-General of the NXFAO, spoke on behalf of the NPAFFC and called for cooperation between Ningxia and Tula Oblast in economy and trade, education, culture, etc., by tapping into each others’ resources and strengths. He expressed the hope that the two sides would take their friendship as a bridge and focus on economic, trade and cultural cooperation, in a view to promoting exchanges and cooperation in more fields and delivering shared development, mutual benefits and win-win results. He also invited delegations from the RCFS and Tula Oblast to attend the Fourth China (Ningxia) International Wine Culture and Tourism Expo.

The Russian counterpart applauded Ningxia’s achievements in economic and social development, and said it attaches importance to the friendly relations with Ningxia. Meanwhile, they are poised to deepen cooperation with Ningxia in economy and trade, chemical industry, education and goji industry. They look forward to contributing to intentions for cooperation with more matchmaking efforts.

Going forward, the NPAFFC, taking this meeting as an opportunity, will leverage its role as a bond to forge new ground, build platforms and provide services for the practical cooperation in various fields between Ningxia and Tula Oblast, and give full play to its part in Ningxia’s high-quality development and higher-standard opening-up.