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Wuhan [China]

The city of Wuhan, the capital of the Hubei Province, has a population of more than 6.5 million. Its greater urban area is home to a population of 11 million. After the big coastal cities, Wuhan is the most populated city in inland China.

Equidistant (1000 km) from Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, Wuhan is an important logistic road, river and rail hub in central China. It is also a significant industrial centre and plays host to many multi-national companies. 

Wuhan is a former French trading post and boasts a long-lasting Francophile tradition. It is home to many associations that promote French speaking and culture.

Wuhan has considerable plans to develop infrastructures and transport by 2020: a metro line will be opened each year in the forthcoming years, in an unprecedented project worldwide a 400-km long high-speed suburban railway will be constructed, the airport will be extended and the 'city of cinema' will be built, boasting the biggest Imax screen in the world.

In 2007, Beijing decided to use Wuhan as a model for urban development

Liège and Wuhan

In November 2013, at the invitation of the authorities, a delegation from the City of Liège went to Wuhan in order to discuss possible areas of collaboration.

Although Belgian and Chinese ways of life are admittedly different, the two cities nevertheless share a good number of characteristics: an exceptional geographical situation, a regional logistics hub, an audio-visual centre, a university city and a tradition of French-speaking are all areas of common ground that have enabled Liège and Wuhan to envisage a partnership, also supported by AWEX.

In October 2014, a delegation from Wuhan was welcomed to City Hall in Liège. During this visit a protocol ceremony took place during which a cooperation agreement was signed. It focused in particular on the creation of a network of companies in the logistic and health sectors.