The 2025 Shandong International Friendship Cities Cooperation and Exchange Week is set to take place from May 26 to 30 in East China's Shandong province, with the main venue located in Jinan, the provincial capital. An opening ceremony will be held on May 27.

A total of around 900 representatives, including 154 delegations, from friendship cities, local governments, enterprises, and business communities in 47 countries have registered to participate in the event, including some 600 from foreign countries.

International friendship cities serve as a crucial channel for sub-national exchanges and an important platform for international cultural and tourism cooperation. 

During a press conference held by the Information Office of the Shandong Provincial People's Government on May 19, Jiang Qingpeng, deputy director of the Department of Culture and Tourism of Shandong Province, said that international friendship cities have become a key driver of international cultural communication and inbound tourism development in the province. 

In the first quarter of this year, visitors from countries hosting Shandong's friendship cities accounted for 77.3 percent of all inbound tourists, marking a 91.1-percent year-on-year increase in visitors, Jiang said.

Moving forward, Shandong will organize more exchange activities centering around events such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization's tourist and cultural capital, the Kazakhstan Tourism Year in China, and China-Russia Year of Culture in order to consolidate and expand the inbound tourism market, deepen cultural exchanges, and further broaden Shandong's international circle of friends in culture and tourism.