Xiamen and Cardiff celebrate 40 years as sister cities

Xiamen recently held a series of celebrations marking the 40th anniversary of the sister city relationship between Xiamen and Cardiff, U.K. Cardiff is Xiamen's first international sister city. The two cities have maintained close ties, deepening their collaboration in fields such as education and athletics.

Xiamen Port recently announced a new Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) route. The route includes ports in RCEP countries such as Malaysia, the Republic of Korea and Vietnam. Ships on the new route can reach Cat Lai port in Ho Chi Minh City in just three days.

The Fujian sub-camp of the Northeast Asia Youth Camp on Sustainable Development concluded last week. The seven-day event included stops in Xiamen, Wuyi mountain and Fuzhou. The China Soong Ching Ling Foundation and the Republic of Korea's SK Group sponsored the event. Xiamen Daily organized the events.

A total of 36 members participated in the camp. Guest hailed from 12 countries: Bosnia and Herzegovina, China, Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Nepal, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, Tajikistan, Thailand and Turkey. The event included activities such as sightseeing and visits to high-tech enterprises in Fujian.

Representatives of the  Xiamen Federation of Trade Unions announced recently that holders of the Xiamen Retirement Discount Card can visit Haoyue Park, Hulishan Fortress, Shuzhuang Garden, Sunlight Rock and the Xiamen Botanical Garden free of charge.

All officially retired employees of the city of Xiamen under the age of 70 can apply for a retirement discount certificate. Eligible citizens can apply with a retirement certificate issued by the city of Xiamen, an identification card and a recent one-inch color front-facing photo at the Xiamen Federation of Trade Unions.

The Golden Rooster Film Festival opens in Xiamen on Friday and will run through November 12.

This year's festival sponsors include the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, the China Film Association and the city of Xiamen. Activities will include film festivals for domestic and international productions, including 14 new mainland movies and 36 international films.

Screenings will be held for multiple new films from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan as well as southeast Asian countries. The classic film section will feature a retrospective of German film master Wim Wenders and a screening of three classic films by the late Hong Kong actor Leslie Cheung.

The Ministry of Ecology and Environment last week released an assessment of ambient air quality through the first nine months of the year., Xiamen's air quality Xiamen ranked in the top 10 among 168 major cities for the first nine months of the year and ranked second in September.

China's State Intellectual Property Office recently approved six new trademarks under the Tongan Snacks umbrella category, bringing to 11 the total number of trademarks in the category.

The Tongan Snacks category includes trademarked products in areas such as food, coffee, restaurants, hotels, advertising and commercial operations. The program is overseen by the Tongan District Market Supervision Bureau. More products are expected to earn trademarks under the Tongan Snacks umbrella in the future.