Rotorua to welcome Rotorua-Nanjing Town visitors
13 May 2014
Rotorua mayor Steve Chadwick will welcome 44 residents of China's Rotorua-Nanjing Town tomorrow with an official powhiri at the Rotorua District Council (RDC) Civic Centre.
The delegation will arrive at the Rotorua District Council on Wednesday 14 May at 8am.
Several hundred residents of Nanjing's satellite town have visited Rotorua in recent years. People purchasing a home in the new development receive a holiday in New Zealand's original Rotorua as part of their purchase arrangements.
The Chinese township bearing Rotorua's name includes a number of buildings modelled on Rotorua landmark buildings including the Rotorua District Council Civic Centre.
Rotorua-Nanjing is in the Jiangling district of the provincial capital Nanjing, and has been planned to accommodate a community of around 5000 well-educated and relatively affluent residents in modern western style houses.
Rotorua District Council has a Friendship City relationship with Nanjing, a city of more than seven million people which has been singled out by the Chinese government for development as a major economic and technology hub, with numerous industrial parks and education centres.
The eastern Chinese city is the capital of the Jiangsu province and is part of the Yangtze River Delta economic zone. Nanjing has long been an important national centre of education, research, transport networks and tourism.