On November 27, 2025, at a meeting of the Council of Deputies of the city of Murmansk, a decision was made “On the establishment of international and foreign economic relations between the municipal formation of the urban district of the hero city of Murmansk and the city of Lianyungang (People"s Republic of China)” (decision No. 17-279).
Lianyungang is a strategically important city in the People"s Republic of China, a major transportation hub that provides logistics services for countries and regions along the Silk Road, and has maritime connections with more than 160 countries worldwide.
In November 2024, a delegation from Murmansk visited Lianyungang. As part of the visit, the Murmansk delegation toured Lianyungang"s port, one of the largest in China (with a throughput capacity exceeding 200 million tons per year), as well as tank container, mining, and wind turbine equipment manufacturing plants. On November 25, 2024, a memorandum of intent was signed establishing sister city relations with Lianyungang.
In 2025, we continued to correspond on the implementation of joint projects (in the fisheries sector, transportation, and social projects). In April, the first online blitz chess tournament was held between Murmansk and Lianyungang. Ten students from the Murmansk Comprehensive Children"s and Youth Sports School competed against young chess players from Lianyungang, China. The Murmansk team won the overall standings with 131 points to Lianyungang"s 100 points. In October of this year, a video conference was held with colleagues from Lianyungang on establishing trade relations with the People"s Republic of China. Representatives of the business community from both sides participated in the online meeting.
