Our sister cities are Minoh City, Japan; Taizhou City, China; Tempe City, Arizona, USA; and Xi'an City, China.
Minoh City, Japan
Minoh City has a population of 120,000 and is situated 20km from Osaka city centre. The formal relationship between Hutt City and Minoh City began in 1995 and activities include:
- An annual visit by Minoh Senior High School students to Hutt City where they are hosted by Hutt Valley High School students. HVHS makes a return visit to Minoh every two years
- The Japanese Education and Culture Grants Scheme which supports community groups and individuals to undertake not for profit projects that develop Japanese education and cultural awareness. You can read the grant scheme application form and guidelines (PDF 210kb)
The Hutt Minoh Friendship House at 38 Normandale Road, Lower Hutt provides a focal point for exchanges and Japanese culture classes and is home to people with a common interest in Japan
Taizhou City 中国 泰州, China
Taizhou City is situated in Jiangsu Province and is a four-hour drive from Shanghai. Taizhou has a population of five million and its major industries include automotive, appliance, electronic and pharmaceutical production.
Hutt and Taizhou Cities signed a friendly city agreement in February 2005. Since then we have had local government exchanges, and identified business, education and community exchange opportunities. Our relationship became closer in 2008 with the signing of a sister city agreement.
Tempe City, Arizona, USA
Tempe has a population of 158,000 and is located in the state of Arizona. Major industries include high technology, manufacturing, education, commerce and tourism.
We signed a sister city agreement with Tempe in 1981 and the relationship has involved a range of exchanges. The Hutt Sister City Foundation currently runs two annual exchange programmes with Tempe:
- Student exchange - four young people host their Tempe 'brother' or 'sister' for five weeks and then travel to Tempe for a five-week homestay
- Teacher exchange - three teachers are selected to host three teachers from Tempe then travel to Tempe where they observe classes in Tempe schools and visit other educators
For further information on the exchanges or the Tempe sister city relationship, contact Jill Sutcliffe at jill_sutcliffe@hotmail.com or write to the Hutt Sister City Foundation, PO Box 30 930, Lower Hutt.
Xi'an City, China
Xi'an is the capital of Shaanxi Province and is a well known tourist destination. The walled city of Xi'an was the capital of China for two thousand years, and today Xi’an is famous as the home of the terracotta warriors. Our sister city relationship focuses on local government information exchanges.
Further information
For more information on our sister city relationships, get in touch with our International Relations Manager.