After the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in China, many of Zhanjiang's international sister cities, such as Geraldton, Australia, Brovary, Ukraine, and Markham, Canada, have learned about its fight against the epidemic, expressing their solidarity and full support for its epidemic prevention and control efforts.

On Feb 17, Bob Manning, mayor of Cairns, Australia, expressed greetings to all residents of Zhanjiang in a letter, as well as showed support to the city's efforts in preventing and controlling the epidemic. He stressed that Cairns and Zhanjiang have established long-term good relations in history, culture, education, society, and economy since the two cities became sister cities, and that Cairns is looking forward to further strengthening mutually beneficial ties with Zhanjiang in the future.

Zhanjiang and Cairns have jointly planned and organized exhibitions in ceramics, photography, and weaving, as well as have achieved positive results in education, tourism, and culture since the two cities officially established sister city relations in August 2004. The Sino-Australian Friendship Garden, which was opened in 2007, was planted with more than 400 seedlings donated by Cairns for free, becoming a symbol of the traditional exchange of people between the two cities and a renowned part of the urban landscape of Zhanjiang.

Cairns, Australia, one of Zhanjiang's sister cities, shows support to the city through a letter. [Photo/gdzjdaily.com.cn]