On May 1993, Qian Qichen, Vice Mayor, led a delegation of Tianjin Municipal Government to visit Saarland. The two sides extensively exchanged views on cooperation and exchanges between the two cities in various fields. Qian Qiao, vice mayor, signed a letter of intent with the Minister of Economy of Saarland to establish sister city relations. The two sides expressed their willingness to develop sister city-state relations on the basis of expanding cooperation and enhancing mutual understanding. In July, 1993, Caspar, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of Saarland, Germany, was invited to lead a delegation to visit our city. Mayor Zhang Hui met with the delegation and the two sides exchanged in-depth views on the extensive cooperation between the two cities and the establishment of sister city relations. Qian Qi 'ao, deputy director of the Standing Committee of the Municipal People's Congress, signed the minutes of talks with Minister Caspar, reconfirming the cooperation and exchanges between Tianjin and Saarland in all aspects. In August, 1993, approved by the National Friendship Association, the Tianjin-Saarland Friendship City Department was formally established. In July, 1994 Secretary-General Zhang Guanwen led a Tianjin sports delegation to visit Saarland. In March 2002, Vice Mayor Yu led a delegation of Tianjin Education and Health to visit Saarland. In September 2002, the Saarland government sent a delegation to visit Tianjin to discuss the visit of the Governor of Saarland to Tianjin in 2003. The two sides agreed that Saarland Governor Miller will lead a large-scale economic and trade delegation to visit Tianjin in 2003.