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The southern city suggested hosting a delegation from Suqian before receiving a letter clarifying whose turn it was to visit.
The original memorandum of understanding was signed in 2013.
In May this year, Invercargill councillors voted to maintain the relationship with Suqian, but decided to invite a Chinese delegation to visit in 2025.
At the time, deputy mayor Tom Campbell said it was Suqian’s turn to travel.
But last week, council governance and legal manager Michael Morris said a response from Suqian claimed it was Invercargill’s turn to visit, because of established diplomatic protocol.
"We went to them first."
A key issue centred on a visit by councillor Lesley Soper to China, which included her collection of an award.
Although she had briefly stopped in Suqian, the sister city likely regarded it as more of a visit to Wuhan for the purpose of collecting the award, Cr Soper said.
Mayor Nobby Clark still believed it was Suqian’s turn, but said they had "countered" that.
Cr Darren Ludlow said the sister-city relationship presented trade and educational opportunities, with a large number of students from Suqian coming to the Southern Institute of Technology, while Cr Campbell said it would "test the patience" of ratepayers to go away this triennium.
Ultimately, councillors decided on an April 2026 visit.
Those elected in October 2025 were still entitled to decide if the trip should go ahead or not, Cr Ian Pottinger noted.
Visits between the two cities had occurred on multiple occasions between 2012 and 2018.
The delegation for the coming trip would include selected councillors, the council chief executive, a staff member and interpreter.
An invitation would also be extended to a mana whenua representative.
The cost for flights, trains and accommodation was estimated at about $12,500, but other "incidental costs" were likely to be added for things such as airport transfers, gifts and travel insurance.— LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air