On April 10, Changzhou received the approval on establishing friendship-city relationship with Essen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany by the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries.

Essen is a city in the central part of the Ruhr area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Located on the River Ruhr, its population of approximately 567,000 makes it the 9th-largest city in Germany. For the year 2010, Essen was the European Capital of Culture on behalf of the whole Ruhr area. Essen is home to 13 of the 100 largest German corporations and seat to several of the region's authorities.

Changzhou and Essen started friendly exchanges in August 2012. Since then the two cities has carried out a series of exchanges and cooperation in economy, trade, science and technology, education, culture, etc. In October 2013, Changzhou and Essen co-established German Innovation Center (GIC) upon the approval of the China National Development and Reform Commission and EU, through which a number of projects have been carried out between both sides in economy, trade, science and technology, education, health, etc. In March this year, Changzhou successfully held in Essen the Changzhou (China) - Essen (Germany) Bilateral Cooperation Forum, to further enhance the relationship with Essen’s business sector and promote the all-round cooperation.