Nanjing City named 12 more foreigners to support the city’s initiative of developing into an international and cosmopolitan destination during an event on March 28.

This marked the second batch of Zijin Friendship Ambassadors named after the city’s Zijin Mountain, or Purple Mountain. The event also included tree planting at the Nanjing International Friendship Park.

The new winners included Miro Kolesar, Vice President of the Bank of Nanjing, and Richard Antonie van Ostende, head of Nanjing Office of the Netherlands Center for Trade Promotion. Participants to the event also visited the International Friendship City Exhibition Hall.

The city started the Zijin Friendship Ambassadors program last year in order to deepen foreigners’ understanding of Chinese culture and the city’s economic and social development. A total of 24 foreigners have been recognized in the program.

Nanjing has strengthened efforts to turn it into a global city in recent years. It has signed the Memorandum of Understanding on University-Local Cooperation with 16 universities, established 29 overseas collaborative innovation centers with 23 countries, and also kept improving the international talent service.

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