A delegation led by Yvonne Mosquito, Lord Mayor of Birmingham, from the United Kingdom, poses for a group photo during their visit to the Phoenix Publishing and Media Group in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, on April 1.

Liang Yong, chairman of the Jiangsu-based publishing giant Phoenix Publishing and Media Group (PPMG), welcomed a delegation led by Yvonne Mosquito, Lrd Mayor of Birmingham, from the United Kingdom on April 1. 

Liang introduced the guests to PPMG's international development pattern, which has seen cooperative ties forged with American, Oceanian, African and European companies, and has UK connections playing pivotal roles in its European businesses. 

He looked forward to enhancing exchanges with the Birmingham local government, which on one hand will help boost current joint publishing projects and discover new cooperative possibilities, and on the other be a way to take advantage of Birmingham's educational strength and explore its potential. 

Mayor Mosquito extended her gratitude to Liang and agreed with his proposal to deepen mutual cooperation. She said the visit helped enhance her understanding of PPMG and she hopes the publishing giant will benefit from her city's multi-cultural background and yield common progress in education, music and enterprise social responsibility. 

The two sides also reached consensus on the further promotion of the Shakespeare Center, joint publishing projects with the energy institute at the University of Birmingham, cooperative potential on vocational education, digital publishing, and music and cultural exchanges, and the launch of a writing competition for overseas Chinese teenagers. 

The PPMG delegation will visit Birmingham in late May and have further talks with the local municipal government and the Confederation of Chinese Business (UK).