Eastern Bay Delegation Formalises Historic Sister Province Ties with Jiangxi
A 19-person delegation from the Eastern Bay of Plenty travelled to Nanchang in June 2019, signing landmark friendship agreements with Jiangxi Province and returning home with a $190,000 scholarship fund, a new Bay of Plenty Promotion Centre, and a suite of business and education partnerships.
In late June 2019, the Eastern Bay of Plenty made history by sending its first formal delegation to Jiangxi Province, China — a milestone that transformed a proposal first tabled in December 2018 into a living, signed relationship between two regions on opposite sides of the Pacific. The 19-person delegation, led by the three Eastern Bay district mayors and facilitated by Eastern Bridge, was warmly received in Nanchang by the Governor of Jiangxi Province, who welcomed the delegation and expressed the provincial government's commitment to deepening cooperation across trade, tourism, education, and culture.
The visit was the culmination of more than a year of preparation by Eastern Bridge, which had first presented the sister province framework to the Eastern Bay of Plenty Joint Committee in December 2018. That presentation had resulted in a unanimous motion to proceed, and the June 2019 visit delivered on every element of that original framework — each of the three district councils entering a memorandum of understanding with a designated Jiangxi city partner, while the Eastern Bay of Plenty Joint Committee formalised an overarching friendship agreement with the Jiangxi Provincial Government.
The Delegation
The delegation was deliberately broad in its composition, reflecting the multi-sector ambitions of the relationship. Council representation came from all three Eastern Bay districts: from Ōpōtiki, Mayor John Forbes, Deputy Mayor Lyn Riesterer, Chief Executive Aileen Lawrie, and Tourism Manager Joseph Hayes; from Kawerau, Mayor Malcolm Campbell and Chief Executive Russell George; and from Whakatāne, Mayor Tony Bonne, Sister Cities Committee Chairperson Andrew Iles, and Chief Executive Steph O'Sullivan. Bay of Plenty Regional Council was also represented.
Alongside the local government contingent, a small business delegation of five companies joined the visit, providing an immediate commercial dimension to the relationship. An education delegation drawn from Whakatāne High School (Trident), Te Puke High School, and Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology rounded out the group, signalling from the outset that people-to-people and youth connections would be central to the partnership. A representative of the North Asia Centre of Asia-Pacific Excellence (North Asia CAPE) also attended, along with confirmation of Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade participation. All accommodation and in-country costs were met by the Jiangxi Provincial Government.
| Eastern Bay District | Jiangxi City Partner | Key Shared Interests |
|---|---|---|
| Ōpōtiki District | Xinyu City | Aquaculture, horticulture, kiwifruit export |
| Whakatāne District | Fuzhou City | Tourism, cultural exchange, education links |
| Kawerau District | Yingtan City | Forestry, geothermal energy, trade and investment |
| Eastern Bay Joint Committee | Jiangxi Provincial Government | Overarching friendship agreement, provincial cooperation |
Day One: A Formal Welcome from the Governor
The delegation arrived in Nanchang — Jiangxi's provincial capital and a city of more than five million people — to a formal welcome hosted by the Jiangxi Provincial Government. The Governor of Jiangxi received the delegation and spoke warmly about the significance of the relationship, noting that the Eastern Bay of Plenty's willingness to engage at a provincial level, rather than simply through a single city-to-city link, was a model that Jiangxi was keen to develop. The welcome set a tone of genuine reciprocity that would define the entire visit.
"This is a very strong start to the relationship. The Eastern Bay of Plenty has shown real commitment by bringing mayors, business leaders, and educators together in one delegation. Jiangxi looks forward to building on this foundation in the years ahead."
Day Two: The Forum and Business Matching Event
The second day centred on a formal forum held in Nanchang, themed Building Strong Communities Together. Each of the three Eastern Bay districts presented to an audience that included local media, prominent business leaders, and education representatives from schools and universities across Jiangxi Province. The forum provided a platform for the mayors to articulate their districts' individual strengths and aspirations, and for Eastern Bridge to outline the cooperative framework that would underpin the relationship going forward.
Following the forum, a business matching event gave the five-company business delegation the opportunity to meet directly with Jiangxi retailers, procurement managers, and industry representatives. The event was structured to facilitate introductions across sectors including food and beverage, primary produce, and specialist services — laying the groundwork for commercial relationships that could develop independently of the formal government-to-government framework.
Day Three: Jiangxi Normal University and the Bay of Plenty Promotion Centre
On the third day, the delegation visited Jiangxi Normal University in Nanchang, where they were shown the soon-to-be-established Bay of Plenty Promotion Centre — a dedicated physical space within the university campus designed to promote the Eastern Bay of Plenty to students, academics, and the broader Jiangxi community. The centre is intended to serve as a permanent showcase for the region's tourism attractions, primary industries, educational institutions, and cultural identity, providing a visible and ongoing presence for the Eastern Bay within one of Jiangxi's most prominent universities.
The three mayors then travelled separately to meet their individual city partners: Mayor Forbes to Xinyu, Mayor Bonne to Fuzhou, and Mayor Campbell to Yingtan. These individual visits allowed each mayor to begin building a direct working relationship with their counterpart city government, and to explore the specific collaboration opportunities most relevant to their district's economic profile.
Key Outcomes and Agreements Signed
The visit produced a series of concrete outcomes that will anchor the relationship for years to come. The most significant was the formal signing of the Eastern Bay of Plenty–Jiangxi friendship agreement by the three mayors on behalf of the Joint Committee, alongside the three individual memoranda of understanding between each district council and its Jiangxi city partner. These documents establish the legal and diplomatic basis for ongoing cooperation and create a framework for future exchanges, joint projects, and commercial activity.
A further landmark announcement came from the North Asia Centre of Asia-Pacific Excellence (North Asia CAPE), which confirmed $190,000 in government-funded scholarships to support New Zealand students and professionals in building knowledge of and connections with North Asia, including China. The scholarship fund is directly linked to the Eastern Bay–Jiangxi relationship and is intended to support young people from the region in accessing study and work opportunities in Jiangxi Province.
Additional outcomes included the confirmation of a joint investment — from North Asia CAPE and the Jiangxi Education Bureau — of approximately NZD $500,000 into a combined scholarship fund and a dedicated space to sell Bay of Plenty products and promote local culture and tourism within Jiangxi. Zespri also contributed by providing Gold Kiwifruit for the delegation to present to Jiangxi leaders, a gesture that underscored the commercial potential of the horticulture sector in the relationship.
What Comes Next
The June 2019 visit was explicitly framed as the beginning of a long-term relationship, not a one-off event. A reciprocal delegation from Jiangxi Province to the Eastern Bay of Plenty is planned for 2020, which will allow Jiangxi representatives to experience the region firsthand and to begin identifying specific investment and partnership opportunities. An agribusiness delegation from New Zealand is also scheduled to visit Jiangxi later in 2019, building on the commercial momentum generated by the business matching event.
Eastern Bridge will continue to manage the relationship on behalf of the Eastern Bay of Plenty Joint Committee, coordinating the ongoing programme of exchanges, business introductions, and educational partnerships that will give the friendship agreements their practical substance. The 2019 China–New Zealand Year of Tourism provided an ideal backdrop for the launch of the relationship, and both sides have expressed strong intent to build on the foundation laid in Nanchang.
"The Eastern Bay of Plenty has shown that small districts can punch well above their weight on the international stage. The relationships we have built in Jiangxi will generate real benefits for our communities — in tourism, trade, education, and investment — for many years to come."
For more information about Eastern Bridge's delegation and sister province services, or to explore how your organisation can benefit from the Eastern Bay–Jiangxi relationship, contact Eastern Bridge directly.