Twinning bonds of Cork and Jiangsu province
Pictured in November 2017 unveiling Cork's twinning relationship with Jiangsu province in China were: Cllr Declan Hurley, then Mayor of Cork County, on behal of Cork County Council, and Governor Wu Zhenlong, on behalf of the Jiangsu Provincial Government.
The south-western region of Ireland has in fact been involved with the Jiangsu province since 2013, explains John Forde of the Economic Development, Tourism and Enterprise department of Cork County Council. It is generally believed that vast opportunities exist for business in the Jiangsu region, which accounts for no less than 10.4% of China’s gross domestic product (GDP).
“There are three steps to forming an economic relationship,” explains Mr Forde.
One is a letter of intent to forge a relationship and in 2013 we signed that letter of intent. In 2016, we signed the next stage up, a memorandum of understanding. That was followed by our Mayor signing a sister-city agreement. There are a number of headings under which we have committed to building links, including economic development, tourism, culture, heritage and education.
“This is an interesting project and the County Council is delighted to be helping the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to raise awareness in Jiangsu about all that Ireland and Cork has to offer. Progress may be slow but patience is important. It takes time to identify, evaluate, select and implement activities and initiatives. However, we consider that our efforts have been rewarding for both sides, and will only lead to even more benefits for Cork, Ireland, Jiangsu and China. In this, we could be said to be wearing the green jersey over our familiar Cork red and white one.
“The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) policy document, Global Ireland, in reviewing our commitment to delivering in the Asia Pacific Region to 2025 sets out a series of interrelated objectives, which if realised by that date, will result in Ireland being recognised as a trusted and valued bilateral and EU political and economic partner for countries in a more prosperous and stable Asia Pacific region.”
To achieve these objectives, explains Mr Forde, DFAT acknowledges that a stronger focus on the Asia Pacific region is required from all stakeholders in Ireland, a deepened understanding in Ireland of the region, and an increased programme of public diplomacy and cultural outreach. This will require the country to intensify what it is good at, work better together and be enterprising in trying out new and innovative approaches.
The accompanying table compares the size of the EU and China and contrasts that with the presence of the DFAT in the EU and in China. Interactions between Ireland and China are multidimensional and growing but the DFAT capacity to raise awareness about Ireland in China is limited.
The scale of this challenge is significant, Forde points out, and is exacerbated by the lack of both an influential and a well-established diaspora in China and the other Asian countries. To help ameliorate this challenge the DFAT has encouraged Irish local authorities to partner with a city, county or region in China to raise awareness about Ireland.
“Following consultation with the Irish Consul General in Shanghai, representatives from Cork County Council first visited Nanjing, the capital of Jiangsu province in China in 2013, with a view to establishing formal links between Cork County and Jiangsu. We maintain close contact with the Embassy and the Consul General in Shanghai who are both aware and supportive of our efforts to raise awareness about Ireland and all that we have to offer in Jiangsu.”
John Forde uses the analogy that the County Council is building a bridge to connect Cork / Ireland and Jiangsu, which bridge is available for everyone to use. “But I then push the analogy further by suggesting that everyone using this bridge actually makes it bigger and stronger.”
When possible, the County Council, led by the Mayor of Cork County, undertakes an annual visit to Jiangsu each November, although obviously, all travel was not possible during COVID.
“On those annual visits we have, at different times, been accompanied by representatives from our Consulate in Shanghai, China-based representatives from the IDA Ireland, Enterprise Ireland and UCC; by Irish based representatives from MTU and Cork ETB and by representatives from private sector organisations such as Cork Chamber, the Tech Industry Alliance and Energy Cork. The representatives, availing of the enhanced access that our relationships in Jiangsu offered, were able to make peer to peer connections, expand their networks and explore opportunities for cooperation and collaboration."
Maintaining contact during COVID was a challenge, he admits, but part of the Co. Council’s current work is to help refresh those relationships and build new ones to realise our shared ambition of establishing peer to peer / friendly relationships; promoting economic and trade cooperation and to conducting exchanges and cooperation in areas such as education, tourism, culture, health, sport, science and technology.
Cork County Council focuses only on Jiangsu, stresses John Forde. “Other local authorities are working with different regions in China. For instance Cork City Council has its long-standing relationship with Shanghai which is next to Jiangsu.”
You might not realise it, but a surprising amount of the work takes place right here in Cork, through hosting, supporting or funding initiatives, and activities such as:
- Hosting visiting delegations in Cork and arranging briefings from relevant local stakeholders.
- Co-sponsoring the annual Asia Matters Business Summit in Cork with MTU.
- Facilitating some of the work of the Ireland China Science and Technology Association.
- Participating in local event being arranged by the Chinese community in Cork and the Confucius Institute in UCC.
- Participation in the annual Dept of Foreign Affairs and Trade Study Visit to Shanghai for Senior Officials.
- Chinese language and Tai Chi classes are held in County Hall for Council staff with teachers supplied by the Confucius Institute at UCC.
- Cork County Council with the Consulate General of Ireland and the Nanjing Foreign Affairs Office organise the annual English language competition, known as the Shamrock Cup English Language Competition. The competition is open to High School students in Nanjing. Competitors give a presentation on Irish culture and heritage and answer a series of questions related to their presentation. The two winning teams are rewarded with a 7-days educational holiday to Cork and Dublin.
- In 2017, the County Library Service invited the public to nominate Cork books which would be used as gifts by the Council during their annual visit to China.
- November, 2016 Cork County Council organised a 4-day tourism familiarisation visit to Cork for Chinese tours and news agencies to promote tourism in Cork. Four representatives from Tuniu.com, China International Travel Services (Jiangsu) Co. Ltd, Yangtze Evening News and Xuzhou Foreign Affairs Office participated in this familiarization trip during which they were introduced to the local business operators, producers of artisan food and crafts, and met with representatives from Tourism Ireland and Failte Ireland.
- In 2020, the Council in partnership with the Cork Education and Training Board and the Nanjing Municipal Bureau of Education launched the MeiHua Cup. This is a Chinese language competition for Transition Year students in ETB schools in Cork. The two winning teams receive a 7-day educational holiday in Nanjing.
With such an ambitious agreement, says Mr Forde, it is important to try and continuously progress a number of objectives at the one time.
“However, as this project is all self-funded it is necessary to be pragmatic and only use the modest budget allocated to this project to engage in initiatives or activities that offer a reasonable probability of success, involve one or more of our stakeholders, are of some benefit to the County and our stakeholders and, most importantly, offer value for money.
“It takes time to identify, evaluate, select and implement activities and initiatives. If an initiative or activity succeeds then the Council may decide to continue supporting it for a while longer to help it grow and become established. If a particular initiative or activity does not gain traction then we move on from it to something else.
"All our initiatives are fully aligned with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) policy and we maintain contact with departmental representatives in Shanghai and Beijing."
