Hefei, China

Columbus Sister City Since 1988

Our Sister City

Relationship

Columbus’ relationship with Hefei was signed into place on November 17, 1988. Since then, we have worked with Hefei to create multiple cultural exchange programs, including our annual Marathon Exchange.

Did You Know?

Hefei is known as one of the three garden-like cities in China. By the end of 2010, the per capita green area had reached a new high of 12.5m2, the total green area was up to 90.85km2, and the percentage of greenery coverage reached 45%.

Region

Hefei, 300 miles west of Shanghai, is the political and cultural center of the Anhui Province, which sits in the east-central part of China, a few hundred miles from the East China Sea.

Population

5.5 million (urban) 7.9 million (metro)

Current Mayor

Dr. Luo Yunfeng

Official Language

Mandarin Chinese

Sister City Volunteer Committee

Eric McGraw

Eric McGraw has been involved in China business, education and cultural projects for more than 12 years, with experience living in Shanghai, Wuhan and traveling extensively around Mainland China. He founded Laonei Global Trade Consulting in 2010, providing foreign market competence, sales resources and personal connections to enable companies to grow in foreign markets.

In addition, Eric has been a lecturer, consultant and guest speaker at Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business in cross-cultural business skills. He graduated from Arizona State University with a Bachelor’s in Journalism/Public Relations and from The Ohio State University with a Master’s in Communication/Conflict Resolution. Eric recently joined Pacer Health, Inc. as International Business Development Manager for the Pacer App and the fitness challenge platform, Pacer for Teams.

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