Mr. Zhao (left, seated) and Savannah Mayor Otis Johnson sign the preliminary sister city pact.

Savannah Mayor Otis Johnson signed a letter of intent to form a sister city relationship with Jiujiang in China’s Jiangxi province, a move that makes Georgia’s first such pact with China just a few formalities away.

The agreement inked by Mr. Johnson and Jiujiang Executive Deputy Mayor Zhao Dongliang was one of the final steps toward official approval.

Savannah must get the nod from Sister Cities International, the agency that fosters these municipal relationships, and Jiujiang’s city government must get a rubber-stamp go-ahead from the province, said Shane Keng, an Atlanta-based importer who has been involved in the process.

Despite the fact that Jiujiang’s population of 5 million dwarfs Savannah’s 130,000, city officials cited a shared emphasis on logistics and in business development as the main compatibility factor.

Savannah is home to the nation’s fastest growing seaport, while Jiujiang is currently developing an inland port on the Yangtze River, a massive project that will link landlocked Jiangxi with China’s eastern seaboard and alleviate congestion at the Shanghai port, China’s biggest.

“It will be the logistical spearhead of their Yangtze strategy,” Mr. Keng said. 

Mr. Keng’s wife, Lei Lily Yang, represents Jiangxi in the U.S.  She began exploring prospects for sister city relationships when the Jiangxi government asked her to help build business ties with Georgia.

Ms. Yang’s task was formidable, considering the fact that Jiangxi sends out 100 delegations per year but never came to Georgia until Mr. Zhao’s recent delegation, Mr. Keng said.

Mr. Keng and Ms. Yang have put together materials in Chinese to introduce Jiangxi officials to coastal Georgia companies, many of which already have operations in China.

Mr. Keng said the packets piqued the interest of Jiujiang’s business development officials, adding an extra incentive beyond the strong ties shared by the Georgia Ports Authority and the Shanghai International Ports Group, which is heading up the Jiujiang project. 

Mr. Zhao’s delegation found Georgia eager to interact economically with China, Mr. Keng said.

A Savannah city press release said that leaders of both cities recognize the sister city initiative as a cost-effective way to promote international economic development.

“By him coming here and seeing how vibrant the interest in China is here, they’re going to start sending more delegations here,” Mr. Keng said. He spoke to GlobalAtlanta on behalf of Ms. Yang, who was busy hosting another Chinese delegation.

The Savannah-Jiujiang partnership is part of a broader plan to link cities and counties in Georgia’s coastal region with other parts of Jiangxi province, which has a total population of 43 million.  

The regional approach knit together by the Coastal Georgia Regional Development Center, an economic development agency in the region, will include sister city partnerships between Brunswick and Ganzhou, and Hinesville with Yichun. 

This arrangement will allow cities in both locales to share resources and form business relationships on a regional basis. 

Savannah and the coastal Georgia area will be added to the itinerary of most Jiangxi trade delegations from now on, Mr. Keng said.

Trade with China has been largely responsible for the rapid growth in container volume flowing through the ports of Savannah and Brunswick.