Source：Asian Journal of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies , 05 Jul 2026

Abstract：With the deepening of globalisation, subnational actors have increasingly emerged on the international stage, and cities have grown in prominence in global affairs. This trend has given rise to a new mode of international interaction—city diplomacy. In essence, city diplomacy is a form of quasi-official diplomacy, and the establishment of international sister-city relationships represents its foundational starting point. After China signed its first sister-city agreement in 1973, the national sister-city program has continued to expand to new levels. In the 1970s, Shanghai’s sister-city initiatives began to take shape. From the late 1970s to the late 1980s, Shanghai and Middle Eastern countries entered the initial phase of developing sister-city relations. In the 1990s, Shanghai’s sister-city cooperation with Middle Eastern countries entered a period of steady growth. Since the beginning of the new era—from 2012 to the present—Shanghai has gradually intensified its sister-city collaboration with Middle Eastern partners, placing greater emphasis on deepening and expanding cooperation with cities with which friendly ties have already been established, and on fostering further development. Cooperation between Shanghai and its sister cities in the Middle East has unfolded across a range of fields, including official and political exchanges and visits, economic and financial cooperation, cultural and people-to-people exchanges, scientific and technological innovation as well as industrial development, and education and talent cultivation. This paper takes Shanghai’s sister-city relationship with Istanbul as a typical case, focusing on its interaction with historically and culturally significant cities in the Middle East. Through an in-depth analysis of this case, the paper seeks to identify the practical experiences of Shanghai’s sister-city engagement with Middle Eastern countries and to explore pathways towards more effective development in the future.

Keywords：Local Foreign Affairs；Shanghai；Istanbul；China-Türkiye relations；City Diplomacy