Key facts on Tianjin
- Population: 11.2 million
- Land mass: 11,920km², third largest urban area after Beijing and Shanghai
- GDP: $8,805 billion
- Business points of interests: Largest port in Northern China, origin of modern Chinese industry and major industrial base for the country.
- Cultural points of interests: The Great Wall – commenced in 214 BC, 1000-year-old Temple of Dule (Temple of Solitary Joy) and Tianjin Art Museum.
Tianjin – Melbourne's sister city
In 1978 Deng Xiaoping set China on a new course – one that set economic development as its highest priority. In the process, Special Economic Zones were established to encourage and attract foreign investment. Part of this new openness to the outside world was to see new alliances struck.
Tianjin was very keen to establish a relationship with Melbourne and in 1980, the sister city relationship was formalised. This was just eight years after diplomatic relations had resumed between Australia and China.
It was also the first such relationship between an Australian city and a city of the People’s Republic of China. The purpose of the agreement was to:
Originally, much of our association with Tianjin was cultural, educational or sporting. However, in 1987 the City of Melbourne took a more business-focused approach and developed strategies to enhance the people-to-people networks we had established for the benefit of both parties.
In 2008 China celebrated the 30th anniversary of its ‘open-door’ policy. For Australia, the open-door policy has transformed China from an impenetrable Asian neighbour into a land of opportunity.