Li Yueqi, Party chief of Taizhou, meets the visiting government delegation headed by Lu Yuedong, Party chief of the city of Aral in Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region on Jan 7. [Photo/taizhou.com.cn]

A government delegation headed by Lu Yuedong, Party chief of the city of Aral in Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, recently visited Taizhou, East China's Zhejiang province.

While meeting the delegation on Jan 7, Li Yueqi, Party chief of Taizhou, pledged that the city will sustain its support for Aral and advance bilateral cooperation in a range of fields including education, medical care, culture and talent and cadres' training during the 14th Five-Year-Plan (2021-25) period.

During the trip, Lu expressed his gratitude to Taizhou for its assistance over the past 10 years, during which Aral achieved significant social and economic development.

He also expressed hope that Taizhou will continue supporting Aral's development and step up cooperation between the two cities.

Taizhou has since 2010 been paired with Aral under the East-West program for poverty relief that was launched by the central government.

Official data shows that the city has allocated 2 billion yuan ($307.7 million) to support Aral and sent a large number of cadres and professionals to help the city seek development in the fields such as medical care, education and agriculture.

In 2020, Taizhou's investment in Aral amounted to 345 million yuan and spanned fields including infrastructure construction, industrial development and public services.