Chinese city Zhangjiakou twinned with Kranj in Slovenia

The Chinese city of Zhangjiakou was twinned with the Slovenian city of Kranj after signing an official document on Wednesday.

The municipality of Kranj announced the news on its website, adding that sport is the main factor connecting the two cities.

Zhangjiakou and Kranj signed a letter of intent to cooperate in 2019, when a Chinese delegation visited the Slovenian city. Also that year, the Kranj engineering company Mana Original began participating in the construction of a ski jump infrastructure in Zhangjiakou.

"We are opening a new chapter of our friendship... In the future we will increase our cooperation for the benefit of both cities," said Zhao Wenfeng, the mayor of Zhangjiakou.

Zhangjiakou, which has 4.1 million citizens and located about 200 km northwest of Beijing, will be the co-host of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in February.

Kranj, which has about 60,000 citizens, is well known for training young athletes, and for its skiing, basketball, soccer, and swimming clubs.

"Zhangjiakou is the first city from another continent with which Kranj has formed fraternal ties. We are proud of this historic step... We look forward to cooperation with Chinese colleagues and the exchange of experience and knowledge," Kranj's mayor Matjaz Rakovec said.

Kranj lies about 25 km northwest of the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana.