The opening ceremony of the Chongqing International Friendship Cities Cooperation Conference 2026 was held on 19-20 May at the Yuzhou Hotel in Chongqing, China and was attended by a delegation led by Yangon Region Chief Minister U Aung Naing Thu.

The ceremony was attended by delegations from 29 countries and 38 cities, representatives of nine international friendship organizations, diplomats from 17 countries, Consuls-General from consulates-general based in Chongqing and Chengdu, and representatives from foreign businesses and business associations. During the event, participating cities were introduced, and the achievements of cooperation among Chongqing’s international friendship cities were showcased.

On the afternoon of 20 May, the delegation led by the Yangon Region Chief Minister attended the seminar on cultural and tourism promotion of international partnership friendship cities, held at the Foreign Affairs Office of the Chongqing Municipal Government. Later that evening, at the Yuelai Wyndham Hotel, they attended the signing ceremony of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on establishing sister-region relations between the Yangon Region of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar and the Chongqing Municipality of the People’s Republic of China. The MoU was signed by U Myo Myint Aung, Chairman of the Yangon City Development Committee and Mayor of Yangon, and Mr Huang Maojun, Deputy Mayor of the Chongqing Municipal Government. The delegation reportedly returned to Yangon by air yesterday afternoon.

Zwe Htet Ko (IPRD)/TH

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