Shanghai vice-mayor Hua Yuan headed an 11-person delegation, joined by China consul-general Ms He Ying, to Dunedin yesterday.
They met Dunedin Mayor Jules Radich along with other councillors and invited guests, including from the Dunedin Shanghai Association and Business South.
Mr Yuan is the highest-ranking official from Shanghai to visit Dunedin since 2017.
It was the first face-to-face meeting between representatives of the two sister cities since the Covid pandemic.
Mr Radich said it was a pleasure to welcome the delegation back to the city.
"It’s always a privilege to host our sister city friends and return the warm hospitality shown whenever our representatives visit Shanghai.
"Our shared cultural ties go back more than a century, to the arrival of the first Chinese settlers during the gold rush era, and they continue to shape our city today.
Ōtākou marae rūnaka upoko Edward Ellison performed a mihi whakatau (welcome ceremony), while King's and Queen's secondary schools performed a haka to welcome the delegates to their sister city.
Mr Yuan was impressed by the haka and Dunedin’s hospitality.
"We are very happy to have the opportunity to visit our sister city, the city of Dunedin, and to renew our friendship."
Mr Yuan was pleased to see a photo of Shanghai’s mother-river, the Huangpu River, in the Shanghai Room in Dunedin’s Municipal Chambers.
It had great significance, and seeing the photo made the delegation feel at home, he said.
Mr Yuan acknowledged the Pacific Ocean as a unifying force of both cities.
"For centuries, the same ocean that has provided food and resources for your ancestors has done the same for our ancestors and continues to sustain us today," Mr Yuan said.
"It is the Pacific Ocean that brings us together."
The Shanghai delegation is expected to leave Dunedin today.
Mr Radich has been invited to lead a return visit to Shanghai.
