“I used to study in Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. In our campus there is a monument established in 1903 that commemorates the 8 Hours Movement initiated in Victoria in 1856”, said Dr. Fu Erjiang, who is responsible for Nanjing’s Innovation Center based in Melbourne. He decided to settle in Melbourne a few years back because of the city’s livability and rich educational resources.

Now Nanjing is Dr. Fu Erjiang’s home. He came to Nanjing a few years ago and founded Bei-Stars Innovations Institute at Pukou Hi-tech Zone of Nanjing together with others in September 2020. Being the only processing center of data of Beidou Navigation Satellite System in Jiangsu Province, the institute focuses on technologies of satellite navigation, remote sensing and geographic information system.

Why did he choose Nanjing? “As a historical and cultural city, Nanjing is similar to Melbourne in that they are both livable cities and have rich education resources”, said Dr. Fu Erjiang. With Yangtze River Delta Integration Plan being upgraded to a national strategy, Nanjing will gain more importance in the region, making it an ideal place for returned overseas talents to start business here.

Nanjing and Melbourne signed a cooperation agreement in 2002. In 2019, the two cities renewed their agreement to enhance innovation collaboration. Up until now Nanjing has introduced over 30 high-level talents from Australia and the two cities have provided services to over 250 scientific and technological projects.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the establishment of sister-city relationship between the two cities. With the support of Nanjing Municipal Foreign Affairs Office, the two cities held NexStar 2022 Melbourne-Nanjing Sprint Program, a platform built by Dr. Fu Erjiang and his team to involve both college students and companies and to help companies know more about their target markets. Over 70 students from both Australian and Chinese universities conducted surveys of Australian markets for three companies based in Nanjing.

In 2021, Dr Fu Erjiang worked with the Chinese Museum based in Australia and helped organize the exhibition “Million Stories: Chinese Australians 200 Years”, which showcases the fascinating journey of the Chinese communities in Australia and how they have helped shape Australian society. According to Dr. Fu Erjiang, Melbourne government is planning to gift Nanjing a sculpture designed by a famous local artist.

“Melbourne has been very supportive of Nanjing’s development and in Nanjing we are seeing more talents, companies and funds coming from Australia,” said Dr. Fu Erjiang. He would like to see more face-to-face exchanges between the two cities when the Covid-19 pandemic ends despite the fact the pandemic has not stopped interactions between the two cities.

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Melbourne, the second largest city of Australia, is the capital of the Australian state of Victoria, which is also known “the Garden State”. Melbourne is a highly industrialized city with rich cultures. It is also a city where higher education institutions, R&D institutions and hi-tech companies cluster. In 2019, Melbourne ranked 22nd globally as a hi-tech city. 

Nanjing and Melbourne signed cooperation agreement in 2002. Both cities are recognized as “UNESCO City of Literature” and are rich in culture and education resources. Over the past two decades, the two cities have conducted collaborations in various fields, improving urban development and bringing more benefits to their people.