SHENZHEN and Edinburgh formally established a friendship-city relationship by signing an agreement in Shenzhen yesterday afternoon. The two sides will further strengthen cooperation in education, health care, innovation and other fields.

The move marked another milestone of the exchanges and cooperation between Shenzhen and Scotland, following the memorandum of understanding signed between the two sides in 2013 and the establishment of Edinburgh-Shenzhen Creative Exchange (ESCE) in 2015.

As Pan Xinchun, Chinese consul general in Edinburgh, said, the establishment of ESCE, Shenzhen’s first international creative center, has put the exchanges and cooperation between the two cities on the fast track. With its effective work and fruitful industrial cooperation achievements, ESCE has made positive contributions to prompting Shenzhen and Edinburgh to become friendship cities.

Over the past four years, Shenzhen Creative Investment Group, the operator of ESCE, has adhered to integrating high-quality industrial resources and promoting exchanges between the cultural and creative industries in Shenzhen and Edinburgh, and enhancing the internationalization of the cultural and creative enterprises in the two cities.

The 2015 U.K.-China Year of Cultural Exchange is a State-level platform for China and the U.K. to boost collaboration in the cultural and creative industry. As one of the key industrial projects of the exchange, ESCE has served as a representative of Shenzhen’s cultural and creative industry on the world stage.

In 2016, ESCE successfully introduced EIE, the largest investment and financing platform in Scotland, and hosted EIE Shenzhen 2016 in the city, bringing the most cutting-edge innovative projects in Britain to Shenzhen.

In 2017, ESCE helped Shenzhen International Culture Week stage the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, one of the world’s largest arts festivals, to showcase the essence of Shenzhen’s culture to the world.

In 2018, ESCE organized the Shenzhen Global Promotional Event in Edinburgh — Talent & Business Forum with a special introduction of Shenzhen’s achievements as a UNESCO City of Design.

Taking events hosted by ESCE as examples, such as China-U.K. Creative Industry Collaboration Week, Create in Shenzhen Competition and Create in Edinburgh Competition, the aforementioned activities had served 241 enterprises in Shenzhen and Edinburgh as of the end of 2018.

With the efforts of ESCE, many Edinburgh enterprises, such as Edinburgh International Investment and Adabotics Ltd., have settled in Shenzhen, gathering a number of high-quality overseas projects for the city.

Standing at a new historical starting point, ESCE will take on a new mission and strive for new achievements.

With Edinburgh as the core, ESCE will gradually expand the cooperation area in Scotland and eventually to the entire U.K. It will persist in creating a series of high-quality industrial activities and promote international cooperation in the field of culture plus sci-tech.

Meanwhile, it will propel cultural brands to go global and enhance the global influence of Shenzhen’s creative industry. It will also strengthen cooperation with overseas universities and institutions, and set up China-Scotland Innovation Center to attract high-level overseas talents and innovative projects to Shenzhen.

Frank Ross, Lord Provost of the City of Edinburgh, said, “Incubation centers in both places can help more companies develop businesses and seek new opportunities. With Edinburgh’s creativity and Shenzhen’s innovation, we can join forces to work together.”

We have reason to believe that under the guidance and support of the two governments, ESCE will make new contributions to further cooperation in the cultural and creative industries in the two places.