China looks at Solapur for business and reviving past linkages

One of the first smart cities China will be taking up is Solapur. According to Xinhua, the Chinese news agency, a group of Chinese delegates led by the China Consul General for Mumbai will visit this city from January 27 to 28.

The delegates visited different projects including sewage treatment plants, textile mills, and sugar mills. They held meetings with local officials and entrepreneurs. The delegates discussed concepts on smart city planning and exchanged experiences with their Indian counterparts.

The Chinese delegates were received warmly by the people of Solapur, reports Xinhua. According to Jiang Konghua, marketing director of Guangdong Sino0Israeli Water Treatment Innovative Industrial Park co., the visit to Solapur was most inspiring. He stated that he plans conducting a comprehensive survey of the city, and based on the projects he has seen will try find the best solutions for the development of this city.

For China, the choice of Solapur is significant. It is the hometown of Dr. Dwarkanath Kotnis, who fought with the Chinese people in WWII, and died in China. At the end of last year, Zhu Xiaodan, governor of China’s Guangdong Province, led a group of delegates to visit Maharashtra. During Zhu’s meeting with Devendra Fadnavis, chief minister of Maharashtra, both sides agreed to cooperate on the smart city mission, which eventually led to this visit to Solapur.

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