Sister city since: April 8, 2019

Overview

The Waimakariri District is located in the Canterbury Region of the South Island of New Zealand. The district takes its name from the Waimakariri River at the southern end of the district, bordering Christchurch and Selwyn districts to the south, Hurunui district to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the east. The Waimakariri district was created in April 1989 through the merge of the former Rangiora Town and Eyre Town. The Waimakariri district covers an area of 2,219 square kilometers and has a population of 54,400. Rangiora Township, the largest town in the district, is where the district city council is located. Other main townships are Kaiapoi, Oxford, Pegasus, and Woodend.

Mr. Dan Gordon was elected mayor of Waimakariri District in September 2019.

Relations with Enshi

Enshi and Waimakariri started official interactions in May 2015 when Dr. Zhou Yafei, President of NZ Hubei Economy Trade Culture Association, led a delegation to Enshi, followed by an Enshi government delegation visit to Waimakariri in November. These two visits marked the beginning of official ties between the two sides. Since then, Enshi and Waimakariri have had frequent exchanges with fruitful results.

Local governments have interacted frequently. Since 2015, the two sides have had three high-level delegation visits, during which theAgreement on Establishing Sister-city Partnershipand theEnshi-Waimakariri Cooperation Action Planwere signed.

Diverse activities were carried out. Waimakariri has been an enthusiastic participant in the Selenium Expo. In addition, a series of cultural and people-to-people exchange events were organized, featuring photo exhibition, economic and trade promotion, and youth talks. The last few years have seen frequent online events as marked by the Cultural Festival Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of China-New Zealand Diplomatic Relations and the 7th Anniversary of Friendly Exchanges between Waimakariri and Enshi.

Productive outcomes have been delivered in scientific research cooperation. In 2014, Enshi Academy of Agricultural Sciences established a cooperative relationship with Faculty of Science, University of Auckland, New Zealand, to carry out joint research on Se-enriched functional food.The Deeper Cooperation Agreement on Efficient Utilization of Selenium Resources and Research & Development of Selenium-enriched Functional Foodsadds further weight to scientific research cooperation between the two sides. The years between 2014 and 2019 have witnessed six delegation visits by Professor Siew Quek of University of Auckland. Fruitful scientific research achievements have been made through collaboration.