Chengdu municipal government has put a lot of importance on foreign exchange and cooperation with other countries. Chengdu first established sister city relationship in 1979 with the city of Montpellier (France), and now has relationship with 13 world cities, including Phoenix (US), Sheffield (UK), Kofu (Japan), Palermo (Italy), Linz (Austria), Winnipeg (Canada), Mechelen (Belgium ), Ljubljana (Slovenia), Gimcheon (Korea), Medan (Indonesia), Bangalore (India) and Bonn (Germany).
In 1986, the U.S. Consulate General was established in Chengdu; it was the first foreign consular authority to open in West China after 1949. Presently 9 countries including the United States, Germany, France, Singapore,Philippines, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Korea and Thailand have established consulates in Chengdu, and over ten countries and regions, such as EU, U.S.A, Britain, Holland, Australia, Japan and Korea, have set up trade offices or Chambers of Commerce in Chengdu.