Sister city since: October 28, 2019

Overview

Para District is in the north of Suriname, with Onverwacht as its capital. Other towns include Paranam, Sabana and Zanderij. It covers an area of 5,393km2and has a population of 24,700. This area is the mining and forestry center of Suriname, where many large bauxite mines operate. The ruins of Jordan Savannah are in Para district, which is also the birthplace of a spring water with medicinal value.

Relations with Xianning

In September 2014, Xianning and Para signed theMemorandum of Friendly Economic and Cultural Exchanges and Cooperation.

In February 2017, Wu Hui, then Deputy Secretary of the CPC Xianning Committee, led a delegation to visit Kelly, Chief Executive of Para District, further confirming the willingness of the two cities to establish a formal sister city relationship.

In November 2018, He Kaiwen, Executive Vice Mayor, led a delegation to Para District, during which they discussed about deepening cooperation in agriculture, education and construction of industrial parks.

In October 2019, Dikan Edgar André, Minister of Regional Development of the Republic of Suriname, led a government delegation to attend the 2019 “Belt and Road Initiative” International Tea Industry Development Forum and the 5th China Tea Industry Conference. During the visit, then Mayor Wang Yuanhe signed theAgreement on Establishing a Sister City Relationshipwith Jurel Armand Ricardo Jozef, Chief Executive of Para District.

Jurel Armand sent a letter of sympathy to Xianning amid the raging pandemic in February 2020. In return, Xianning donated disinfection supplies worth of RMB 100,000 and 50,000 masks in April when Para District was hit by the virus.