THE mayor of Brest in France, Francois Cuillandre, has been granted honorary citizenship by Qingdao.

Elected mayor in 2001 and re-elected in 2008, Cuillandre has been dedicated to developing a friendship between the cities.

He has led a delegation to Qingdao nine times and pushed forward exchange and cooperation in many fields such as trade, culture, education and sailing.

Cuillandre feels proud of his honorary citizenship and has expressed his gratitude to the city government.

(Li Hao, Yang Xiaoxing)