Shanghai Deputy Mayor Xu Kunlin made the comment in Dunedin yesterday as one of the more high-powered sister city delegations the city has hosted toured education institutions, businesses and tourist operations.
In an interview with the Otago Daily Times, Mr Xu said his city, despite being China’s largest economic centre, and a transportation and trade hub, was "highly dependent in some areas".
With Dunedin’s resources, and the "excellent" quality of its products, "we hope to import more things from Dunedin like agriculture products and industrial finished goods".
"We’re very open to the possibilities of further co-operation in many areas."
Mr Xu said through a translator the governments of both Shanghai and Dunedin viewed the sister city relationship as highly important.
Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull visited Shanghai almost every year, and Shanghai sent a delegation to Dunedin almost every year.
As deputy mayor of the Shanghai Municipal Government, responsible for foreign affairs and external relations he was "more than happy to come to Dunedin for my first time to have a look at our sister city".
Over the past 23 years of the sister city relationship, the two cities had carried out "many extremely good projects".
"The sister city relationship between Shanghai and Dunedin can be regarded as a role model for all sister cities."
There had been achievements in education, culture, business, trade, science and technology, and research.
He had visited Otago Polytechnic and the University of Otago, both of which had established relationships with Shanghai universities.
The polytech had sent students to Shanghai for fashion week, and had received students from the Shanghai University of Engineering Science in return.
The university also had student exchange programmes with Shanghai.
The Chinese Garden — a joint project between the two cities — was a testament to the relationship.
"I think these projects have benefited both peoples."
The NZ-China Non-communicable Diseases Research Collaboration Centre, a government-established national centre hosted by the University of Otago, had recently signed memorandums of understanding with four Chinese research institutions, including three from Shanghai.
Mr Xu said, with some amusement, that there were differences between the two cities, one being Shanghai’s population was "huge" at 24 million.
However, resources there were limited.Dunedin had a smaller population, but was "rich with resources".
"Our cities have their own distinctive advantages."
Enterprise Dunedin director John Christie said the visit of a person so high up in the Shanghai government was "really useful".
Mr Xu was a "significant influencer".He said the city’s role was to open doors in Shanghai.
With good relations at the highest political levels, it was possible to do that more effectively when Dunedin organisations or businesses required assistance.
He said there were "significant advantages" in the education area from the relationship.
