国内英语新闻:Friendship cities a boost to int'l communication: official

YINCHUAN, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- China's Friendship City program, or the sister cities program, has boosted communication between China and the rest of the world, an official said at an ongoing forum Thursday.

China has sister city relations with 134 countries, with 2,340 pairings formed so far, Xie Yuan, deputy head of the Chinese People' s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, said at Ningxia Friendship City Forum in northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

The Friendship City program covers relations between provinces and states, cities and counties.

The program was launched in 1973 with the partnership of Tianjin, China, and Kobe, Japan. It has pushed direct people-to-people communication and decreased prejudice, Xie said.

"China is speeding up the Belt and Road Initiative and its urbanization drive, which means the Friendship City program will play a bigger role," Xie said. China will roll out more support measures to further encourage the development of twin cities."

After signing a Friendship City agreement, governments of the signing parties will launch a variety of programs spanning politics, economics, science and technology, education, culture and environmental protection.

As the host of the forum, which will conclude Saturday, Ningxia signed several relationship agreements.