Shanghai, Chicago sign memorandum to promote tourism

Chicago and Shanghai officials signed a memorandum Wednesday to mutually boost each other's tourism industry.

As part of the mutually beneficial program, the two cities agreed to broadcast promotional tourism videos of the other side from May through October 2012.

The five-minute videos will be seen at both O' Hare International Airport in Chicago and big screens at the Xintiandi and Lujiazui sites in Shanghai.

Representatives from the two cities said they greatly looked forward to the cooperation that would bring the two sister cities closer. Shanghai and Chicago signed a sister city agreement in 1985.

"Over time Chicago has always served as an important bridge of friendly cooperation between Chinese and American people,"said Feng Guoqin, chairman of the Shanghai Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

"I firmly believe that the cross promotion will help our two peoples to have a better picture of each other's city and therefore strengthen our sister city relations, deepen our friendship, broaden our cooperation, and finally benefit our two peoples," Feng told those assembled to celebrate the signing of the memorandum.

Chicago Deputy Mayor Mark Angelson also said he looked forward to the partnership and expressed the hope that the Shanghai-Chicago relationship would extend to student exchange programs and joint business ventures in the near future.

The two cities also premiered their promotional tourism videos, each capturing the spirit of their respective city through energetic music and beautiful scenes of daily life.

Although both cities have seen large numbers of foreign visitors since they became sister cities, officials from Shanghai and Chicago hope the new initiative will allow both destinations to showcase all they have to offer and further increase tourism.

Rita Athas, president of World Business Chicago, which helped to organize the event, commented that she thought the promotional videos from both cities were so appealing that tourists would be booking their vacations to Shanghai and Chicago in no time.