NEWSOM STRENGTHENS TIES
WITH SHANGHAI
Chinese Healing Garden to be built
on UCSF campus
San Francisco Symphony to collaborate with Shanghai Conservatory of Music

Photos by Deputy Director, Darlene Chiu, Mayor's Office
of Communications

November 30, 2005, 11:00 a.m.

SHANGHAI, China -- Joined by Senator Dianne Feinstein and Former Mayor Frank Jordan, Mayor Gavin Newsom and Mayor Han Zheng met in the official guest house Xi Jiao Hotel this evening to sign the 8th Memorandum of Understanding for the San Francisco-Shanghai Sister City Relationship.

Started in 1980 by Mayor Dianne Feinstein, the relationship has since sponsored nearly 200 projects during a 25 year period. Exchanges have included commercial, cultural, educational, governmental and technological programs.

"I am honored to carry on and expand upon a vision that Senator Feinstein had as Mayor of San Francisco," said Mayor Newsom. "It is only appropriate that we continue to collaborate with Shanghai," Newsom continued, "San Francisco is the Gateway to the Pacific and home to the largest ethnic Chinese population in the United States. The Chinese population in San Francisco has been the backbone of the City's economy since the days of the gold rush."

The MOU listed commitments to foster the promotion of economy and trade, arts and culture, sports, education, social and governmental exchange.

A Chinese Healing Garden, designed by Shanghainese experts, will be built on the Osher campus of the University of California in San Francisco, symbolizing the friendship between the two cities.

In February 2006, The San Francisco Symphony, led by Michael Tilson Thomas, will be visiting Shanghai and collaborating with the students at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music in a cultural exchange of educational and musical ideas.

In the pursuit of improving the quality of life, both cities will embark on an exchange of urban greening and clean air programs. Many other plans and programs were outlined in the MOU.

Programs in the MOU will be coordinated by the San Francisco-Shanghai Sister City Committee and the Shanghai Foreign Affairs Office of the Municipal People's Government. Details of each program including funding and implementation will be determined on a per project basis.

SAN FRANCISCO-SHANGHAI FRIENDSHIP CITY
PROGRAM MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING
FOR PROJECTS OF EXCHANGE AND MUTUAL
BENEFIT BETWEEN SAN FRANCISCO AND SHANGHAI
2006-2007

Expression of Friendship

In 1980, San Francisco and Shanghai entered into a special friendship cityr elationship. The relationship is now twenty-five years old. San Francisco and Shanghai consider this relationship as important in building friendly relations between the two cities and two countries and an important component of creating "people-to-people" relationships between our respective citizenry. San Francisco and Shanghai wish to increase their relationship and to encourage further exchanges of mutual benefit. During the past twenty-five years, nearly 200 projects have been sponsored by San Francisco and Shanghai, including commercial, cultural, educational, governmental and technological exchanges. In 1995 San Francisco hosted the successful "Shanghai Week in San Francisco," which was followed in 1998 by "San Francisco Week in Shanghai."

In March of 2005, San Francisco was honored to host the visit of Mayor Han Zheng. Now to celebrate the visit of Mayor Gavin Newsom to Shanghai, and to express the two cities continuing dedication to building an even stronger friendship, the two cities-San Francisco and Shanghai-now enter into this formal Memorandum of Understanding. This is the eighth Memorandum of Understanding between our two cities since 1980.

Exchanges and Projects 2006-2007

I. Friendly Visits

1. The senior leaders of the two cities will continue reciprocal visits, so as to promote the mutual exchanges and cooperation in various fields. Shanghai is honored to host the visit of Mayor Gavin Newsom, Senator Dianne Feinstein and former Mayor Frank Jordan and their delegation in November of 2005. San Francisco will extend an invitation to Mayor Han Zheng to visit San Francisco at his earliest convenience.

1. II. Promotion of Economy and Trade: Shanghai's financial organizations wish to establish cooperative relationships with San Francisco Financial Organizations.

2. Shanghai will work jointly with San Francisco to continue the Business Management Program. The seventh class completed its Fellowship in February of 2005. The timing and details of the next program are to be discussed and finalized between the San Francisco-Shanghai Sister City Committee and the Foreign Affairs Office of Shanghai.

3. Shanghai shall create a reciprocal Business Management Program in its city for San Francisco business and governmental officials. The details of this program are to be discussed and finalized between the San Francisco-Shanghai Sister City Committee and the Foreign Affairs Office of Shanghai.

4. San Francisco, home to the California Regenerative Medicine Institute (Stem Cell) and the University of California, San Francisco Medical Research Campus, and Shanghai, home to China's most advanced biotechnology and biomedical industry, shall work together to create new partnerships and cooperative ventures between our respective biomedical institutions.

5. San Francisco will research and create an "Investment Guide" to the San Francisco Bay Area for use by organizations in Shanghai looking to invest and begin business in our city and region. Shanghai will provide a similar publication for distribution to San Francisco area businesses.

6. The two cities will work jointly to develop a "Shanghai Leaders/Experts" program which would bring Business and Governmental Leaders from Shanghai to San Francisco for speeches, meetings and discussions where they could share their expertise with their counterparts in San Francisco.

7. Shanghai and San Francisco shall begin discussion about forming a "Digital Sister City' program for collaboration on exploring new opportunities in Digital and Interactive Media.

III. Arts and Culture

1. Shanghai and San Francisco will jointly establish a Chinese Healing Garden. San Francisco will locate this garden at the Osher Center at the University of California, San Francisco, where the garden would symbolize the friendship between the two cities.

2. In the first two weeks of February, 2006, the world famous San Francisco Symphony will visit Shanghai to celebrate the Lunar New Year. The orchestra will give a special concert at Shanghai's Grand Theater on Sunday, February 12th, 2006. In recognition of the Sister City friendship, Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas and musicians of the Symphony will spend February 13th in an exchange of cultural, educational and musical ideas with the students and faculty of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music.

3. San Francisco and Shanghai will discuss mutual programs of exchange and cooperation between the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco and the Shanghai Museum.

4. Shanghai wishes to continue the book exchange with the San Francisco Public Library. Shanghai will have the Shanghai Library contact the head of the San Francisco Public Library to work on the details of the continued exchanges.

5. San Francisco and Shanghai wish to continue to promote cultural and social exchanges of all types between the two cities and their peoples, and both cities welcome future cultural exchanges.

IV. Sports

1. San Francisco and Shanghai agree to support the World Junior Table Tennis Championships which will be played in the San Francisco Bay Area in December of 2007. Both sides are committed to the success of this international tournament which will include of 36 countries and districts and 200 international athletes.

2. San Francisco and Shanghai shall continue to work towards further soccer exchanges such as the San Francisco Seals visit to Shanghai in 1997, the San Francisco Women Team visit in 1998 and the Shanghai Pumas visit in 2003.

3. Shanghai and San Francisco shall strive towards other major sports exchanges such as reciprocal visits by professional sports teams housed in each respective city.

V. Education

1. San Francisco and Shanghai will work towards creating a "Sister School" relationship between respective grade schools or middle schools in our respective cities. This relationship would include book exchanges, pen pal programs and student and teacher exchanges.

2. San Francisco and Shanghai will continue to support the annual exchange program between Crystal Springs Uplands School and the Shanghai Children's Palace, including the teacher and student exchange program.

VI. Governmental

1. The San Francisco Police Department and Shanghai Security Bureau will continue their on-going exchange program including reciprocal visits and technical information sharing.

2. The San Francisco Mayor's Office of International Trade and Commerce will work closely with any Shanghai company looking to invest in San Francisco by providing information, technical assistance, expediting and networking services.

3. Shanghai and San Francisco shall continue to create dialogue towards exchange of "Best Practices" in regards to public infrastructure development, policy and management. This includes public transportation systems and facilities, highways, water systems, ports, bridges and public buildings and facilities.

VII. Social Exchange

1. With the growing interest in ensuring a sustainable urban environment, Shanghai and San Francisco shall pursue programs and cooperation that will share the cities respective programs and policies towards "greening" of the community, a clean environment and sustainable development.

2. With the rapidly rising cost of housing, Shanghai and San
Francisco shall share practices and programs that focus on
providing "affordable housing" to the citizens of our respective
cities.

Legal Affairs

Shanghai and San Francisco wish to conduct exchanges in the legal fields. San Francisco will invite one judge from the Shanghai People's High Court to attend the conference on law to be held in San Francisco in January 2006.

Tourism

The Shanghai Tourism Administrative Bureau and the San Francisco Convention and Visitors Bureau will work to enhance two-way tourism between the two cities. Additionally the two organizations will share best practices and investigate the possibilities of joint marketing and promotional programs.

General Provisions

1. The San Francisco-Shanghai Sister City Committee and the Shanghai Foreign Affairs Office of the Municipal People's Government will coordinate the exchanges and programs listed in this Memorandum of Understanding. They will work closely with the Mayors of San Francisco and Shanghai to accomplish the purposes of the Memorandum.

2. The details of the exchange programs and allocation of costs for each exchange and project will be mutually discussed and agreed upon by each side in a spirit of mutual benefit and friendly cooperation.

3. This Memorandum may be revised and supplemented with the consent of the parties.

With the warmest good wishes for the future, this Memorandum of Understanding is signed on November 30, 2005, in the Chinese and English languages, in Shanghai, People's Republic of China.

Mayor of San Francisco / Mayor of Shanghai
Gavin Newsom / Han Zheng

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