Abbottabad city in the NWFP and Chinese city of Kashgar in Xinjiang (Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China) were declared as sister cities by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The MoU was signed by Sardar Muhammad Idrees, NWFP Minister for Local Government and Rural Development as a head of the visiting Pak-China Friendship Association (PCFA) delegation to Kashgar, while the Chinese side was represented by Mr Zhang Jian, Deputy Secretary General of the CPC.
Chen Ji, Deputy Commissioner Kashgar, who also signed a MoU with Chairman PCFA NWFP Qazi Shamsuddin for the promotion of friendly relations between the two cities. Zhang Chunxiang, the Chinese ambassador in Pakistan specially visited Kashgar to attend the signing ceremony.
Later, the Government of Kashgar hosted a banquet in honour of the delegation to mark the event prior to signing of the Memorandum of Understanding.
The visiting 11-member PCFA NWFP team also attended the opening ceremony of the First China-Kashgar International south central Asia Trade Fair-2005.