Lingqiao Bridge spans Ningbo's Fenghua River. [Photo/IC]

Lingqiao Bridge in Ningbo stands as a symbol of enduring friendship between China and Germany, linking history, culture, and collaboration across generations.

Completed in 1936 by Germany's Siemens, Lingqiao Bridge was China's largest single-span steel arch at the time. Over nearly a century, it has remained a vital city landmark. Siemens engineers returned in 1995 to inspect the bridge and issued a formal warning in 2011 when its design lifespan had been exceeded. Its 2016 renovation preserved over 80 percent of the original structure and reinstalled more than 100,000 rivets, ensuring safe use for another 40 years.

The bridge foreshadowed deeper ties between Ningbo and Germany when, in 1986, Ningbo established a sister-city relationship with Aachen.

Herbert Promper, former chairman of Aachen Bank, dedicated 23 years to nurturing the partnership, visiting Ningbo annually and coordinating programs between schools, hospitals, and local institutions. After his retirement in 2017, Kai Muller continued this work, organizing student summer exchanges, academic collaborations, and hospital visits that now include multi-generational participants.

Economic ties have grown alongside cultural and educational exchanges. German companies, including Bosch, Linde, and Volkswagen, have invested $3.7 billion in 322 enterprises across Ningbo, while Ningbo-Zhoushan Port collaborates closely with Hamburg and Bremen.

Lingqiao Bridge is more than an engineering marvel; it stands as a living symbol of the enduring friendship between Ningbo and Germany, a reminder that shared history, ongoing exchanges, and human connections can bridge continents and generations.