The city of Taicang in Jiangsu province, a 45-minute-drive from Shanghai, is home to a large number of German companies.

In 1993, one such company, Kern-Liebers, set up a manufacturing site in the area. Since then, the former fishing village on the Yangtze Delta has been booming. With favorable policy support, it has attracted more than 260 companies from Germany, covering a wide range of sectors, including automotive, apparel and energy.

At the beginning of 2017, photographer Zhao Huiat the local government's invitation - started to take photos in both Taicang and cities in Germany, capturing the lives of people in both.

After more than six months, 60 photos are now on display in an exhibition titled China and Germany Story - Start from Taicang, at the Juelich museum in Juelich, a German town with strong links to Taicang. The pictures present a comparison between the lifestyles of people from Germany and Taicang, as well as showing nongovernmental Sino-German exchanges and cooperation.

Wei Guoling, a member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Taicang Municipal Committee, says the photo exhibition in Juelich is a gift from Taicang to deepen mutual understanding, strengthen bonds of friendship and accelerate cooperation between Taicang and Germany in business and education.

The photo exhibition has been included in the cultural activities for the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Germany, as well as the "Reading China" project. It will continue until the end of November.

He Qi contributed to this story.

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(China Daily European Weekly 08/11/2017 page4)