Sister city since: December 21, 2012

Overview

Essonne is a department of France situated in the southern Île-de-France region. It is named after the river Essonne, which flows through the province. About 40 km away from Paris, the department of Essonne was formed in 1968 as one of 95 departments of France. It has a population of approximately 1.3 million with an area of 1,804 square kilometers. Essonne is strong in education, science and technology and has a well-developed industrial economy. Essonne is known for its headquarters economy as it is home to headquarters of multiple well-known Fortune Global 500 companies such as Renault, Formula 1, Accor and Carrefour. Essonne enjoys sound and stable economic conditions.

Relations with Wuhan

Wuhan and Essonne share a longstanding cooperation and exchanges. In the 1980s, the University of Paris XI in Essonne established a partnership with Wuhan University, starting the cooperation between Essonne and Wuhan.

The sister city/department agreement was signed between Wuhan and Essonne on December 21, 2012. Over the years, Wuhan and Essonne have maintained robust cooperation in scientific research, education and gardening.

In 2017, Deputy Mayor of Wuhan and Ms. Aurélie Gros, Vice President of the Departmental Council of Essonne signed in Wuhan the2017-2019 Action Plan for Bilateral Cooperation between Wuhan and Essonne, reaching a consensus on deepening exchanges and cooperation in education, scientific research, culture, tourism, sustainable development and smart cities.

In May 2018, President of the Departmental Council led a delegation to Wuhan, promoting cooperation with Wuhan in the above-mentioned fields.

In May 2018, the Yellow Crane Tower Park and the Chamarande Castle in Essonne signed a friendship and cooperation agreement.

From May to June 2019, artists from both the Yellow Crane Tower Park and the Chamarande Castle staged performances in each other’s city. Meanwhile, the Yellow Crane Tower Park, Jiefang Park and other parks led a delegation to Essonne for cultural exchanges.

Since the outbreak of Covid-19 in 2020, President of the Essonne Council sent a letter of sympathy to Wuhan, expressing solidarity to the government and people of Wuhan. Wuhan government wrote a letter of appreciation back. In 2021, when the virus hit France, Wuhan Foreign Affairs Office actively assisted the Essonne Government in contacting manufacturers of respirators in China, and assisted the representative of Essonne in Wuhan in application for China visa. The Province of Essonne expressed its gratitude to Wuhan.