On April 28th, the Sixth Meeting of the Steering Committee between Zhejiang, China and West Flanders, Belgium was successfully held. Li Weining, Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of Zhejiang Provincial People's Congress, and Jean de Bethune, Vice Governor of West Flanders attended the meeting. JIN Yanghua, Vice President of Zhejiang Gongshang University, was invited to the meeting.

As one of the activities to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the friendly relationship as sister provinces, this meeting was held in the form of "online and offline". Li Weining said that China and Belgium enjoy a deep traditional friendship and close exchanges. Since the sister provinces were formed in 2000, Zhejiang and West Flanders have achieved fruitful cooperation in fields of economy and trade, health care, education, etc.. Zhejiang and West Flanders have offered mutual support and assistance since the outbreak of COVID-19, leading to closer ties, stronger mutual trust and a deeper friendship. Jean de Bethune stated that West Flanders has cherished the friendship with Zhejiang and wishes to advance the cooperation in economy and trade, education, technological innovation, health care and port logistics on the occasion of the 20th anniversary, so as to score more successes and achieve win-win development. 

Jean de Bethune has affirmed for several times the achievements of ZJSU Confucius Institute. He said, the two parties will continue to support the cultural and educational exchange programs organized by ZJSU Confucius Institute and build a platform for cooperation programs to better serve the needs of common citizens and special groups in West Flanders. Especially this year, to celebrate the 20th anniversary, ZJSU Confucius Institute and the China Museum of Silk will jointly launch a series of exhibition activities on the topic of "Silk and Lace", which aims to present cultural features of the two provinces and deepen mutual understanding and friendship. In addition, Zhejiang will also offer one-year government scholarships to 3 students from universities in West Flanders (including students from ZJSU Confucius Institute).

After the meeting, Li Weining and Jean de Bethune signed the Memorandum of the Meeting. Bart Boschmans, Consul of Commerce from Consulate General of Belgium in Shanghai, representatives of the Steering Committee of two provinces, and Pan Zhangxian, the Chinese Director of ZJSU Confucius Institute also attended the meeting. The meeting is also seen as a prelude to the 20th anniversary of the two sister provinces this year.