Taizhou, China

Taizhou is located on the northern bank of the Yangtze River's lower reaches, in the mid-Jiangsu Region. It is a newly founded city, approved by the State Council in 1996, and is directly under the jurisdiction of Jiangsu Province of which Nanjing is the capital city.

The City of Taizhou administers four county level cities;

• Jingiang
• Taixing
• Jiangyan
• Xinghua

and two districts

• Hailing
• Gaogong

The city area covers 5,793 square kilometres and has a population of approximately 5 million. With a history extending more than 2,100 years, Taizhou has long been a political, economic, communications and cultural centre of mid-Jiangsu region. It is the hometown of Mr Shi Nai'an - a famous litterateur, Mr Zheng Banqiao - a well known calligrapher and painter and Mr Mei Langfang, a true world class master of Peking Opera.

Taizhou's main industries include production of machinery, electronics, textiles, foodstuffs, pharmaceuticals and other light industries.

One of the largest enterprises, The Chunlan Group, manufactures air conditioners, vehicles, general machinery, motorcycles, electronics and refrigerators.

Taizhou and Latrobe City

The sister-city relationship developed from an initial interest, by Taizhou, in a region similar to itself, particularly Latrobe City which was formed in 1995 from the amalgamation of the cities of Moe, Morwell, Traralgon and the Shire of Traralgon.

Following correspondence from Mr Cao Sumin, the then Director of the Foreign Affairs Office of the City of Taizhou, a business delegation from Taizhou City first visited Latrobe on 8 May, 1998. The five delegates were interested to seek "...business opportunities and build up friendly relations".

A memorandum of Understanding was signed in April 1999. In the same year, a delegation of Latrobe City school principals visited Taizhou thereby commencing a successful program of sister-school relationships involving Traralgon Secondary College, Lowanna College and Kurnai College.

In November 1999, La Trobe Shire Council resolved to establish a formal sister-city relationship with Taizhou and the Mayor of Taizhou was invited to visit Latrobe to sign they sister-city agreement.

The Latrobe City - City of Taizhou Sister-City Agreement was signed on Tuesday, 7 March 2000. Latrobe City Mayor, Councillor Lorraine Bartling and Mr Chen Baotian, Director, Standing Committee of Taizhou People's Congress, both signed the agreement that established an obligation of both cities to ensure regular contacts are maintained between the leaders and relevant departments of the two municipalities.

Recent Exchanges

• September 2000 - Taizhou delegation visited healthcare facilities in Latrobe City
• August 2001 - Taizhou Children's Performing Arts Delegation. A 10-day visit by 16 performers, highly skilled in dancing, music and singing, who entertained over 1500 people in 6 scheduled performances.
• September 2002 - Taizhou delegation visited Latrobe City's healthcare, tertiary education and sporting facilities.
• October 2002 - Taizhou visiting Artist-in-Residence. A well known artist was hosted in Latrobe City for 10 days during which time instruction and tutorials were given to local art groups and secondary and tertiary students.
• September 2003 - Taizhou delegation focusing on healthcare and education.
• December 2003 - Taizhou delegation visited with a specific focus on tertiary education.
• January 2004 - Latrobe City Youth Band visited Taizhou. Five performances were given to an estimated total audience of 10,000. This visit also provided an opportunity for the Latrobe City Economic Development unit, who accompanied the band, to assess economic development opportunities with the City of Taizhou.
• May 2006 - Latrobe City table tennis team visit Taizhou to compete in several table tennis matches. The team also made visits to local schools to experience the lifestyle and educational differences in their sister city.
• January 2008 – Latrobe City Youth Band visited Tazhou. The two performances in Taizhou further promoted and advanced our sister-city friendly exchanges.
• Since 1999, Secondary Colleges - Traralgon Secondary College, Lowanna College and Kurnai College - have maintained sister-school relationships with regular student and teacher exchanges for specified periods whenever practicable.

Sister school relationships

These relationships are strengthened by teacher and student exchanges to encourage cultural and educational understanding.

Traralgon Secondary College

• Taizhou Middle School number 1, China
• Ibbenburen Goethe-gymnasium, located in the German town of Ibbenburen, near the City of Munster.

Lowanna Secondary College

• Taizhour Middle School number 2, China
• Instituto Professionale di Stato, Castelfranco, in Veneto, near Venice, Italy.

Kurnai Secondary College

• Jiangyan Middle School

Elizabeth St Primary School

• Taizhou Experimental Primary School

Lavalla Catholic College

• Instituto Comprensivo Statale "G Pallotta" located in Spinete, Italy.