From March 11 to 12, the preparatory meeting of the 26th China-Japan-ROK Sister Cities Conference was held in Yancheng. Zhu Dan, Director of the East Asia Work Department of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, Shigehiro Chikamatsu, Director of the Council of Local Authorities for International Relations. Beijing, Kim Eung-soo, Director of the Governors Association of the Republic of Korea. China, Qian Wenhua, Vice President of Jiangsu Provincial People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, and Tang Jing, Vice Mayor of Yancheng Municipal People’s Government, attended the preparatory meeting. The participants fully discussed the plan of the sister city conference, and inspected the conference venue, accommodation hotels and some visiting routes.

The China-Japan-ROK Sister Cities Conference was initiated and co-sponsored by the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, the Governors Association of the Republic of Korea and Council of Local Authorities for International Relations in 1999. It is held annually in rotation among the three countries and has become a brand event to promote practical cooperation among the sister cities of China, Japan and the ROK. It has played an important role in promoting local governments of the three countries to enhance mutual understanding, strengthen friendly exchanges and expand practical cooperation, and has also played a positive role in the sound and stable development of trilateral relations. The 26th China-Japan-ROK Sister Cities Conference is scheduled to be held in Yancheng in October 2025.