San Francisco mayor expects more cooperation with Guangzhou

Visiting US San Francisco mayor London Breed expects to enhance the cooperation with Guangzhou, the capital city of Guangdong province, in the environment, business development and tourism.

"We had a great meeting to talk about our commitment to maintaining our relationships and how we can continue to build bridges and connect through our mutual desires to improve the environment, business development and tourism," Breed told the media on her meeting with Guangzhou mayor Sun Zhiyang on Tuesday.

San Francisco is anticipating to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions generated in the city by 2040. The meeting with the Guangzhou mayor also covered electric vehicles, electric charging stations and related infrastructure, she said.

"I hope that as we start to talk in the coming months, we can figure out exactly how we are gonna make commitments for both of our cities because of what that could mean for our economic prosperity. And my hope is that we'll be able to nail those things down and then turn it into an agreement," she said.

Breed's delegation also visited the home of Lee Hoi-chuen - the father of late kung fu superstar Bruce Lee- in Yongqingfang, a rejuvenated area in the older part of Guangzhou city.

"Bruce Lee was born in San Francisco at a Chinese hospital. ...... The thing that I loved about Bruce Lee and San Francisco is that San Francisco is such a multicultural city. Bruce Lee was a real bridge builder between the Chinese and the African American community in San Francisco where I grew up."

A significant portion of San Franciscans came from Guangzhou, Breed noted, adding "When I told people that I was coming here I got a lot of advice from my residence on where to go and what to do here and stories about their families who migrated to San Francisco many decades ago. It's such an important relationship for our city."

Kevin Chan, a Chinese American fortune cookie company owner is also on the delegation led by Breed.

"He has a great business that brings a lot of joy to the community and to people who visit San Francisco all over the world. When folks come to San Francisco, they want to visit China Town and they want to go and see the fortune cookie place in China Town. Cantonese culture is very rich in China Town,"

"Learning about the significance of the Cantonese culture in San Francisco is one thing but coming here to Guangzhou and experiencing it for myself is something that I will definitely treasure."

Breed's delegation has also traveled to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Guangdong's Shenzhen city. It will visit Beijing and Shanghai.

The delegation represents people from the business community, tourism and cultural groups. It's an important step in continuing to maintain relationships that are significant to building bridges, Breed said.