Does your town have an international link?
Most New Zealand towns already have a sister city or friendship link, and many aren’t being used. This directory shows which councils are connected to whom, when the link began and how active it looks today.
Batch 1 covers Hawke’s Bay and Bay of Plenty, plus South Waikato: 29 records, each checked against primary sources (council, partner-city and MFAT pages) with a “last checked” date. How we verify every record.
| NZ council | Partner | Country | Since | Type | Status | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Napier City Council | Lianyungang, Jiangsu | China | 1994 | Sister city | Active Verified · checked 2026-10-15 · sources 1 2 3 | Health check |
| Napier City Council | Tomakomai, Hokkaido | Japan | 1980 | Sister city (sister port 1978) | Active Verified · checked 2026-10-15 · sources 1 2 3 | Health check |
| Napier City Council | Victoria, British Columbia | Canada | 1973 | Friendly city / twin city | Unclear Verified · checked 2026-10-15 · sources 1 2 | Health check |
| Napier City Council | Xuzhou, Jiangsu | China | Unconfirmed | Economic friendship link | Unclear Likely · checked 2026-10-15 · sources 1 2 | Health check |
| Napier City Council & Hastings District Council | Mianyang, Sichuan | China | Unconfirmed | Friendship / information-sharing (earthquakes) | Unclear Likely · checked 2026-10-15 · sources 1 2 | Health check |
| Hastings District Council | Guilin, Guangxi | China | 1981 | Sister city | Active Verified · checked 2026-10-15 · sources 1 2 | Health check |
| Hawke's Bay Regional Council | Xuzhou Chamber of Commerce (Jiangsu) | China | Unconfirmed | MOU (not a sister-city agreement) | Unclear Likely · checked 2026-10-15 · sources 1 | Health check |
| Wairoa District Council | Kitaibaraki, Ibaraki | Japan | 1999 | International friendship city / sister city | Active Verified · checked 2026-10-15 · sources 1 2 3 | Health check |
| Tauranga City Council | Yantai, Shandong | China | 1985/86 | Sister city | Active Verified · checked 2026-10-15 · sources 1 2 3 | Health check |
| Tauranga City Council | Hitachi, Ibaraki | Japan | 1987/1988 | Sister city | Active Verified · checked 2026-10-15 · sources 1 2 | Health check |
| Tauranga City Council | Ansan, Gyeonggi | South Korea | 2014 | Friendly city | Active Verified · checked 2026-10-15 · sources 1 2 | Health check |
| Tauranga City Council | San Bernardino, California | USA | 1973 | Sister city | Dormant Likely · checked 2026-10-15 · sources 1 2 | Health check |
| Western Bay of Plenty District Council | No international link found | — | — | — | — Unconfirmed · checked 2026-10-15 · sources 1 | Talk to us |
| Rotorua Lakes Council | Klamath Falls, Oregon | USA | 1962 | Sister city | Unclear Verified · checked 2026-10-15 · sources 1 2 | Health check |
| Rotorua Lakes Council | Beppu, Ōita | Japan | 1987 | Sister city | Active Verified · checked 2026-10-15 · sources 1 2 | Health check |
| Rotorua Lakes Council | Lake Macquarie, NSW | Australia | 1997 | Sister city | Unclear Verified · checked 2026-10-15 · sources 1 | Health check |
| Rotorua Lakes Council | Wuzhong District, Suzhou, Jiangsu | China | 2000 | Sister city (friendship 1997 with Wuxian; sister city Feb 2000; re-signed with Wuzhong) | Active Verified · checked 2026-10-15 · sources 1 2 | Health check |
| Rotorua Lakes Council | Arras, Pas-de-Calais | France | 2026 | Twinning charter | Active (being formalised) Verified · checked 2026-10-15 · sources 1 | Health check |
| Rotorua Lakes Council | Pingtung County, Taiwan, China | China | Not signed | Proposed MOU | Unclear Unconfirmed · checked 2026-10-15 · sources 1 | Health check |
| Whakatāne District Council (via Sister Cities Assoc.) | Kamagaya, Chiba | Japan | 1997 | Sister city | Active Verified · checked 2026-10-15 · sources 1 2 | Health check |
| Whakatāne District Council | Shibukawa, Gunma | Japan | 2016 | Friendship agreement | Active Verified · checked 2026-10-15 · sources 1 2 3 | Health check |
| Whakatāne District Council (via Sister Cities Assoc.) | Warwick, Queensland | Australia | 1994 | Sister city | Dormant Likely · checked 2026-10-15 · sources 1 | Health check |
| Eastern Bay of Plenty Joint Committee (Ōpōtiki, Whakatāne, Kawerau district councils) | Jiangxi Province | China | 2019 | Sister province / friendship agreement | Unclear Verified · checked 2026-10-15 · sources 1 2 3 4 5 | Health check |
| Ōpōtiki District Council | Xinyu, Jiangxi | China | 2019 MOU; friendship city 10 Oct 2022 | Friendship city | Unclear Verified · checked 2026-10-15 · sources 1 2 3 4 | Health check |
| Kawerau District Council | Yingtan, Jiangxi | China | 2019 | City MOU (within Jiangxi agreement) | Unclear Verified · checked 2026-10-15 · sources 1 2 3 | Health check |
| Whakatāne District Council | Fuzhou, Jiangxi | China | 2019 | City MOU (within Jiangxi agreement) | Unclear Verified · checked 2026-10-15 · sources 1 2 3 4 | Health check |
| Bay of Plenty Regional Council | Jiangxi (as a member of the EBOP Joint Committee only) | China | n/a | No standalone agreement found | — Verified (no agreement) · checked 2026-10-15 · sources 1 2 | Health check |
| Central Hawke's Bay District Council | No international link found | — | — | — | — Unconfirmed · checked 2026-10-15 · sources 1 | Talk to us |
| South Waikato District Council | Yichun (宜春), Jiangxi | China | — | Official relationship (MOU) | — High · checked 2026-10-15 · source: MOU held by South Waikato District Council; confirmed by Eastern Bridge | Health check |
Is your link working for your community?
A free relationship health check looks at what’s active, what has lapsed and where the opportunities are, from education and tourism to trade and civic exchange. Talk to us.
Coming soon: batch 2, covering the rest of New Zealand. Spotted a correction? Let us know and we’ll check it.