On June 13, 2025, the Second Liaoning International Friendship Cities Conference opened in Shenyang under the theme "Mountains to Seas, Friendship Thrives." Wang Xinwei, Deputy Secretary of the CPC Committee of Liaoning Province and Governor of Liaoning Province, other provincial leaders, representatives from relevant national ministries and provincial departments, municipal officials, foreign diplomats including ambassadors to China and consuls general stationed in Shenyang, and over 400 Chinese and foreign distinguished guests from governments, business associations, and cultural and tourism enterprises across more than 40 countries, attended the event. Vice President Lu Xiangdong of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC) attended and delivered remarks at the opening ceremony.

In his remarks, Vice President Lu emphasized that international friendship cities serve as a key channel for subnational exchanges, bearing the important mission of fostering people's friendship, advancing practical cooperation, and promoting mutual learning among civilizations. In recent years, Liaoning has actively pursued its vision of establishing an opening-up cooperation hub in Northeast Asia, making steady progress in building a high-quality network of international friendship cities. As a result, the "circle of friends" of Liaoning has expanded significantly, forming a multi-tiered, wide-ranging framework for international friendly cooperation at the subnational level and contributing to friendly exchanges and cooperation between nations.

Vice President Lu Xiangdong noted that the CPAFFC, as China's national people's organization dedicated to people-to-people diplomacy, remains committed to its founding mission of " enhancing people's friendship, promoting international cooperation, safeguarding world peace, and facilitating common development." Long been engaged in promote friendly exchanges between China and other countries, the CPAFFC will continue working with Liaoning to maximize the platform role of friendship cities, innovate cooperation models, broaden areas of collaboration, and strive to deliver more tangible benefits from subnational cooperation, in a way to better serve local economic and social development, grow China's friendly relations with other countries, and contribute to deepening people's friendship, advancing mutually beneficial cooperation, promoting peace and development in the region and beyond, and building a community with a shared future for mankind.