Senior Council Delegation to Sign New Twinning Agreement in China

Published on: 19 Sep, 2017
Updated on: 20 Sep, 2017

Dongying, China soon to be twinned with Guildford – Photo Wikipedia

A senior delegation from Guildford Borough Council is expected to visit Dongying in China in October to sign a new twinning agreement.

The delegation will comprise Council Leader Paul Spooner, Deputy Leader Matt Furniss and Managing Director, James Whiteman. They will be joined by Professor Max Lu, Vice-chancellor of ther University of Surrey (UoS), where many Chinese students study, and Saskia Cochrane of the UoS Students’ Union.

The GBC China Delegation: Council Leader Paul Spooner, Deputy Leader Matt Furniss and Managing Director James Whiteman

According to a report, due to be debated at the next GBC Executive meeting on September 26: “The size of the delegation has been kept small and the cost to the council is estimated at £5,000. We consider this to be good value for money in terms of the potential future benefits for local businesses, jobs and the economy.”

Non-council members in the delegation are reported to be meeting their own costs.

Dongying is an oil town in Shandong province, north-east China

The council report continues: “The developing high level councillor and officer relationships with Dongying will be used to open doors for local businesses to trade with China and the possibilities for future dedicated specific trade delegations should not be under-estimated. Relationships are an integral component of the business culture in China and the success of these initial civic exchanges will be crucial.”

Deputy Leader of the Council, Cllr Matt Furniss, said: “Boosting international links will benefit the whole borough for residents, businesses and visitors. We want to explore, promote and strengthen the economic, educational and tourism links that we have already, in addition to establishing new partnerships and creating potential investment and trade opportunities.”

Professor Max Lu, the vice-chancellor of the University of Surrey.

In addition to strengthening the existing twinning agreement with Freiburg in Germany, the council signed an expression of interest to develop a partnership agreement between Guildford and the city of Dongying, in north-east China, in July this year (2017) when a delegation from the Dongying visited Guildford.

GBC is also in discussions with Versailles, on the outskirts of Paris, about a possible twinning agreement with them. The report also reveals that a twinning with the French town of Bar-de-Luc, Meuse, in 1958 appears to have fizzled out before it got off the ground.

The report states: “There were two twinning ceremonies, one in Bar-le-Duc on 22 June 1958 and another in October 1958, when a French delegation came to Guildford. However, after this date, records abruptly halt and there is very little awareness that the relationship ever existed. It is not clear why the arrangement was allowed to lapse, but there does not ever seem to have been an equivalent of the Guildford-Freiburg Association to maintain a close relationship.

Cllr Matt Furniss

Cllr Furniss concluded: “Since 1979 we have had an excellent long-standing international relationship as the result of our twinning agreement with Freiburg. We are now seeking to deepen that relationship and to develop new ones beginning with Dongying in China and Versailles. We will explore and promote economic, and trade ties and cooperation in aspects of science and technology and other relevant fields.”

Barbara Ford, Chairman of the Guildford-Freiburg Association said: “In my view, international collaboration and friendship are valuable and beneficial to everyone concerned. The more we all get to know and to help each other across national and cultural boundaries, the richer we will all be spiritually as well as materially – it’s a virtuous circle.

“Our current twin town, Freiburg in Germany, has twinned with 12 towns in countries all over the world including Nicaragua, the USA, Israel, Iran and South Korea and has mutually beneficial arrangements of different kinds with each. Compared to them, we will only be dipping our toe in the water. China is fascinating, France is wonderful – bring it on, I say.”

Bernard Parke

But Hon Alderman Bernard Parke commented: “It is interesting to learn that Guildford Borough Council aims to strengthen international relationships.

“I remember when the twinning was being considered with Freiburg back in the 1970s. It took place after considerable public consultation and then it was put to a meeting of the full council for confirmation.

“This procedure seems to have been by-passed on this occasion.”

Responses to Senior Council Delegation to Sign New Twinning Agreement in China

Jim Allen Reply

September 20, 2017 at 1:15 pm

I wonder if the councillors time would be better spent sorting out the Local Plan (to meet with community concerns on housing numbers and failure to take notice of the 40,000 plus comments) and the infrastructure (discovering what is under the sewer manholes and finding more road space) rather than bring in more trade which will further overload our creaking infrastructure.
Jan Messinger Reply

September 20, 2017 at 4:20 pm

I wonder when the residents of Guildford are going to be consulted. Do we want this? There are many universities getting very close with China in the UK.
John Perkins Reply

September 20, 2017 at 6:38 pm

What a lovely boondoggle! Can we all have one, please?
A Atkinson Reply

September 20, 2017 at 7:12 pm

One has to remember this is all in the name of practice for “trade deals”, diplomacy, “delegations” etc.

Or are Cllrs Furnis and Spooner just trying to climb further the greasy ladder for parliamentary candidacy? Is the best use of the leader’s and deputy leader’s time let alone taxpayers money?

As their former leader has advised:

“Evaluate the economic benefit from Freiburg, which is zero, before embarking on these strange relationships. Another vanity project?”

https://twitter.com/smansbridge/status/910360972052828161
Mary Bedforth Reply

September 22, 2017 at 8:17 am

That old saying about Nero and Rome burning comes to mind.
Jules Cranwell Reply

September 22, 2017 at 5:38 pm

Is it time for a taxpayers’ alliance to protest against such profligate waste of our money on these self-aggrandising, vanity projects?
Gina Redpath Reply

September 26, 2017 at 4:03 pm

The Versailles link is going to be brilliant for Guildford. We visited this year it is a truly beautiful city full of culture, I will be bringing a group of 60 school children to Guildford in 2018.

I cannot wait for this link to be completed.
Gordon Tyerman Reply

September 28, 2017 at 1:10 pm

Why are we setting up a twinning arrangement with a country that has some of the worst records in human rights, animal abuse, illegal trading standards and many many other areas which can be called into question?

It seems to be just a free trip for councillors to have a jolly at our expense but without public agreement.

I know who I shall not be voting for next time around. This is wasteful and inappropriate at the very least.
Gina Redpath Reply

September 28, 2017 at 2:41 pm

Looking forward to casting my vote on Guildford’s new twin towns.

Does anyone know when this will be and which towns we must consider?
Frank Phillipson Reply

September 28, 2017 at 2:45 pm

Extract re economic benefits (or lack of!) taken from UK Government review:

Twinning and contact between British and Chinese cities.

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0ahUKEwi4iqurysbWAhUpJsAKHT5oC0oQFggoMAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gov.uk%2Fgovernment%2Fuploads%2Fsystem%2Fuploads%2Fattachment_data%2Ffile%2F545779%2Fgs-16-14-future-of-cities-twinning-contact-britain-china.pdf&usg=AFQjCNGTweXDmCfHZMBW9poywIA82gJ4WA

Fulong Wu, Fangzhu Zhang, Zheng Wang
Bartlett School of Planning, University College London
January 2016

This review has been commissioned as part of the UK Government’s Foresight Future of Cities Project. The views expressed do not represent policy of any government or organisation.

4.2 Economic benefits of Sino-British twinning relations
Whilst civic benefits of Sino-British twinning are evident, there are fewer evidences indicating the economic benefit of Sino-British twinning relations. Although there are no specific economic targets for city governments, tangible economic benefits are nonetheless expected in order to justify twinning related expenses. However, many of the 52 twinning relations have remained at the level of cultural and educational exchanges whilst fewer British city authorities report economic benefits such as inward investments. Especially twinning relations that have only been created in the recent decade are less successful in terms of deeper economic and business engagements. For instance, the survey conducted by the Local Government Association (LGA) in 2013 reveals that the Oxfordshire county council’s twinning agreement with Guangdong province, which focuses on business partnerships, has resulted in little direct economic benefits, since the relationship had only been in place for three to five years (LGA survey 2013). The local government of Basildon also reported similar outcomes in terms of their connection with the city of Changzhou. The informal twinning relationship between Basildon and Changzhou was agreed through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which focused on promoting trade and cooperation in the manufacturing and engineering industries as well as medicine. However, the LGA survey reveals that Basildon’s partnership has resulted in limited financial benefits in 2013 by which time the authority had already been twinned with Changzhou for three to five years.
Jane Hepburn Reply

September 28, 2017 at 2:50 pm

Wondering why Dongying out of all the cities in China?

I agree with Bernard Parke and some of the others. Do we even want this? And why do we particularly want Dongying? Why not Urumqi, an emerging and also little-known city in the far north-west Xinjiang Province?
- Lisa Wright Reply
  
  September 28, 2017 at 4:58 pm
  
  Probably something to do with University of Surrey links to the city.
Jill Durrant Reply

September 29, 2017 at 1:05 pm

I object to being twinnned with China. China has such an appalling attitude to human and animal rights. I am shocked. They have tried to play down the costs of the trip but that is missing the point.