19 Nov 2025
The Municipality of Stara Zagora today hosted a delegation from the Municipal Government of Liaocheng, Shandong Province, People's Republic of China.
The delegation members were Zhang Jianjun - Deputy Mayor of the Municipal People's Government of Liaocheng, Zhou Zhongwei - Director General of the Liaocheng Bureau of Agriculture, Liu Ying - Deputy Director of the Liaocheng Foreign Affairs Office, Kong Zhiyong - Deputy Mayor of the Provincial Government of Qiping District, Li Guimin - Director General of the Yanggu County Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Li Dongcheng - Director of the Foreign Cooperation Department, Liaocheng Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Zhao Bo - Minister of the International Department of Xinfa Group, Li Guangqing - Chairman and General Manager of Shandong Sinoglory Health Food Co., Ltd. and Deng Yundong - Chairman of Liaocheng Dongda Food Co., Ltd.
At the protocol meeting held in the Municipality of Stara Zagora, Georgi Simeonov, Director of the Directorate "European Programs and Protocol", presented the local economy, investment policy, educational institutions and cultural and historical heritage to the delegation. He told the story of our 8,000-person green city with 128,000 trees and 32 hectares of Ayazmo Park. Georgi Simeonov explained to the delegation the importance and strategic location of our city and the fact that 30 km from here is the energy center of Bulgaria, where there are 3 thermal power plants and 40-50% of the country's electricity is produced from coal. The Director of the Directorate "European Programs and Protocol" explained that in the context of the EU's climate requirements, we are making a transition to clean energy, which will probably be solar or hydrogen. “About 10,000 families are currently dependent on work in the energy complex. The transition is a big challenge because we need to secure new jobs and fresh investments. Your great country is welcome in our city,” Georgi Simeonov welcomed the guests.
Head of the Investments, Energy Efficiency and Green Transition Department, Rositsa Raykova, explained to the guests: “We are second in GDP after the capital, and fifth in population. The agricultural sector is third in gross added value at the moment, and 35,000 people work in the mechanical engineering sector. The partnership between us would help develop trade relations in the future.” She explained that the Municipality of Stara Zagora organizes many career forums and events related to finding labor. "One of the levers we use to attract investors is providing a complete infrastructure and areas of the industrial zone. We currently have one built and one under construction. For the last 5 years, we have had a 400% growth in investments and we have won the award for the Municipality with the most investments for two years in a row." Rositsa Raykova also explained to the guests about the cooperation of the Municipality with the Thracian University.
The Deputy Director for Academic Affairs at Sofia University "Maxim Gorki" Georgi Tonev proudly presented the educational institution and the fact that for 11 years it has been teaching Chinese and 130 children from 8th to 12th grade study the language full-time. "More and more children are learning and choosing Chinese in higher education," added the Deputy Director.
Zhang Jianjun, Deputy Mayor of the Liaocheng Municipal People's Government, thanked the delegation for their warm welcome and introduced the city: "We came from afar and came to you to find friendship and an opportunity for cooperation. In your city, we saw harmony between people and nature. We understood that there is vitality. Our cities have a lot in common - and we have a strategic location. We are located in East China, in the largest province, and we are known as an important point between the Yellow River and a canal that connects us to Beijing." The Deputy Mayor of the Municipal People's Government introduced the three and introduced the attendees to their large companies related to agriculture, agricultural machinery and green energy.
The possibilities for twinning between the cities were discussed. "Our city of Liaocheng is opening up to the whole world. We have contact with 10 countries and are twinned with 35 cities. We are moving in the same direction of cooperation in education, transport, import and export of agricultural machinery and other areas," informed the deputy mayor of the municipal people's government. The guests said that they would send a letter with the topics and areas that are of interest to them. "We propose to create a twinning agreement and investments will find the right direction," added the deputy mayor of the municipal people's government of Liaocheng at the end of the meeting.
Hosts from the Municipality of Stara Zagora were also: Maria Markova, junior expert in the "European Programs and International Cooperation" department and Nadezhda Georgieva, junior expert in the "Public Relations and Protocol" department.
After the meeting in the Municipality of Stara Zagora, the guests from China were warmly welcomed at the Thracian University by Prof. Darina Zaimova, Vice-Rector for Research and International Affairs and Assoc. Prof. Emil Slavov, Vice-Rector for Project Activities, Assoc. Prof. Stanislava Peeva, Deputy Dean for Academic Affairs at the Faculty of Agriculture and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mima Todorova, Deputy Dean for Research and International Cooperation at the Faculty of Agriculture. There, the guests were introduced to the scientific activities, with the main focus on agriculture.
At the end of their visit, the Chinese delegation visited the local company "Deroni" - a leading innovative, high-tech producer of canned and frozen foods in the region. A site visit was held to their own vegetable gardens and the closed production cycle was presented.
