Mr. Jaak Gabriels’ China Ties.docVIP

Mr. Jaak Gabriels’ China Ties 　　Mr. Jaak Gabriels， Mayor of Bree in Belgium， arrived in Kunshan of Jiangsu Province on March 28， 2012 to attend the China International Imported Products Expo. He was accompanied by the staff of the Foreign Affairs Office of the Yangzhou Municipal Government， a city that has friendshipcity relations with Bree. He looked a bit tired. In less than a week， he had visited Beijing， Nanjing and Yangzhou， and met several old friends including former Chinese Ambassador to Belgium Zhang Qiyue， made a formal call on Aigo， a wellknown company， in a bid to persuade it to conduct a study tour of his city， gave exclusive interviews， putting forward suggestions for building Yangzhou into a world famous city. To someone who was approaching 70， such arrangements were indeed a bit too tight. But the work was far from finished. After sharing a bottle of white wine with his fellow delegates to refresh himself， he appeared in high spirit at the meeting with provincial leaders that evening together with Herman Reynders， Governor of Limburg. At the Expo’s opening ceremony the next day， wearing a T-shirt commissioned by the Expo， along with a big smile， he handed out 1，000 color leaflets on the friendly exchanges between Bree and Yangzhou specially made for the occasion. It was most touching and impressive to see the profound feelings he cherished for Yangzhou. Indeed， Mr. Gabriels has every reason to be proud. The contact between the two friendship cities has not only reached unprecedented heights， but also ensured the economic and cultural cooperation he initiated between Limburg and Jiangsu fruitful. At the Expo， Limburg Province organized an economic delegation and set up an exhibition stall to promote its advanced products and technology. A Senior Politician Jaak Gabriels had been elected mayor of Bree six times， serving for 35 years until retirement in 2012 as one of the longest serving mayors in Belgium. Whats more， he was also a se