A special tramcar is launched on Nov 12 to mark the 30th anniversary of the sister cities bond between Guangzhou and Frankfurt. [Photo/Guangzhou Daily]

Guangzhou is eyeing a tighter bond with its sister city Frankfurt as the mayors of the two cities, Wen Guohui and Peter Feldmann, signed a memorandum of cooperation on Nov 12.

According to the memorandum, the two cities will strengthen exchanges and cooperation in the areas of economic and trade investment, scientific and technological innovation, culture and education, and jointly propose to establish a tripartite economic union between Guangzhou, Frankfurt and Lyon.

On the same day, the two mayors also attended the contract signing ceremony for the Merck Innovation Hub China, jointly launched by German pharmaceuticals and life sciences giant Merck Group and Guangzhou Development District.

According to Wen, Guangzhou and Frankfurt have both seen fruitful benefits from exchanges and cooperation over the past 30 years since the two cities forged the bond. He hoped that the two sides will further strengthen cooperation in the fields of economy, trade, science and technology, and culture, expanding exchanges in exhibitions, public transportation and urban governance while working together to write a new chapter in their sister city cooperation.

Feldman also expressed the hope that the two cities will continue to enhance mutual trust, strengthen personnel exchanges, explore new areas of cooperation, and add new vitality to the friendly relations.