On September 18, Secretary-General LIM Byung-jin attended the Third Ningxia International Friendly Cities Forum and met with LEI Dongsheng, communist party secretary and member of a standing committee of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. Mr. Lim expressed his gratitude for the invitation to the event. He further extended his appreciation for Ningxia's active participation in NEAR activities, including serving as NEAR Chair and seconding officials to the NEAR Secretariat five times. He requested Ningxia’s continued interest and support for NEAR.

In response, Mr. Lei said that Ningxia believes that NEAR plays an important role in Northeast Asian regional cooperation and will continue to attach great importance to cooperation with NEAR and actively participate in the various activities of NEAR.

From Ningxia, BAI Yuzhen, director of the Foreign Affairs Office, CAI Ju, director of the Culture and Tourism Office, YONG Jianhua, a member of the Yinchuan City Standing Committee and director of Propaganda attended while three staff members from the NEAR Secretariat, including KIM Su-hyun, an administrative officer, participated.