On the afternoon of April 12th, vice mayor Fang Guoqiang met with the delegation of Essen citizens at the Administration Center.

Essen is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Its population of approximately 589,000 (as of 31 March 2016) makes it the ninth-largest city in Germany. It is the central city of the northern (Ruhr) part of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan area and seat to several of the region's authorities. Essen and Changzhou became sister cities in 2015.

During their stay in Changzhou, the delegates visited the Sino-German Innovation Park, Liu Haisu Art Museum, etc.