The Mercator Research Centre was invited by the Frisian provincial government to participate in a delegation to Chengdu in the province of Sichuan, China. Fryslân and the Sichuan province already have a friendship relation for more than 10 years. The visit took place from the 26th of April till the 2nd of May 2009.

Reason for this visit was the outspoken interest of the University of Chengdu and the ABA Teacher College in multilingualism, minoritiy issues, multilingual education, research and the policy of the European Union and the Council of Europe in these fields. The activities of the Mercator Research Centre do fit well in this description and were presented during a workshop for a group of researchers, teachers and students.

Result of this visit was the signing of a letter of intent between the Teacher College and the Mercator Research Centre by the president of the College Prof. Mr. Ma Hongjiang and the vice-governor of the province of Fryslân Mr. S. Galema. Both institutes aim for cooperation in the areas of research in multilingualism, exchange of information, joint projects and publications and the development of an exchange programme for researchers and students.