Datong city in North China's Shanxi province and the municipality of Atlantida in the South American Republic of Uruguay on Sept 3 signed a letter of intent to establish sister city relations in Taiyuan, capital of Shanxi. 

Ma Anquan, vice-mayor of Datong, discussed further strengthening mutual cooperation with Juan Rodriguez, Uruguay's ambassador to China at the signing ceremony in Taiyuan.

Ma said that since Shanxi and the department of Canelones in Uruguay became sister provinces in 1992, they had continued to carry out extensive and close exchanges. 

Datong and Atlantida have great prospects for exchanges and cooperation. The signing of the letter of intent to establish sister city relations will lay a solid foundation for future relations between the two, according to Ma.

Plans are for Datong to further strengthen cooperation with the Uruguayan municipality in various fields such as agriculture, commerce and trade.

When the global COVID-19 pandemic is over, Datong will promote exchange visits and continue to deepen the friendship with the residents of Atlantida. 

During the exchange, ambassador Rodriguez expressed the hope that the two sides would further strengthen cooperation in the development of their industries, especially in the fields of education, cultural tourism and new energy, so as to promote common development.