Axel Fuchs, mayor of Julich, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany vowed to try his best to promote cooperation between Taicang, Jiangsu province, and the West German town.

The remarks were made in response to the opening of a photo exhibition entitled "China-Germany Story, Start from Taicang" at Julich Museum on July 30, as a gift from the Taicang government.

Taicang and Julich became sister cities earlier this year on May 11, following which Fuchs led a delegation to Taicang at the end of June.

During the three-day visit, the delegation, made up of government officials, local entrepreneurs, and heads of universities, received a warm welcome.

Julich has much in common with Taicang, they are both beautiful garden cities which focus on environmental protection, technological research, and talents cultivation.

Many German people and enterprises have settled in Taicang. Although Julich has only 30,000 or so citizens, there are more than 2,000 Chinese people who study and work in Julich.

The Julich government also plans to establish a special institution to take charge of all the cooperation projects with Taicang.

Fuchs added that the two places can enhance exchanges and cooperation in culture, education, sports, environmental protection, as well as other fields.

To strengthen exchanges between young people in both places, Fuchs said that one or two Taicang schools hope to build partnerships with schools in Julich.

In terms of sports, Julich is rich in sports resources such as football. Julich has its own football teams and there are also many Bundesliga clubs in surrounding areas including Dusseldorf, Cologne, and Dortmund.

Fuchs also hoped that their German table tennis players can have opportunities to exchange skills with Taicang's players.

In early July, Julich launched its first China Festival, which was warmly welcomed by local citizens and is set to become an annual event.