San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie is set to embark on his first international trip as mayor, traveling to Shanghai and Seoul this week to strengthen cultural and tourism ties with two of the city’s long-standing sister cities. The visit, beginning in Shanghai on April 22 and continuing in Seoul from April 25, underscores a growing trend of U.S. Municipal leaders using subnational diplomacy to foster economic resilience and cultural exchange amid shifting global dynamics. As both cities grapple with post-pandemic recovery and evolving U.S.-China and U.S.-South Korea relations, Lurie’s mission highlights how local governance can serve as a stabilizing force in international affairs—leveraging soft power to complement national foreign policy while promoting sustainable tourism and creative industry collaboration.
This diplomatic initiative arrives at a pivotal moment in global urban diplomacy. With national-level tensions between the U.S. And China persisting over trade, technology, and regional security, city-to-city engagement offers a pragmatic channel for maintaining people-to-people connections. Similarly, South Korea’s deepening strategic alignment with the U.S. In the Indo-Pacific makes Seoul a valuable partner for advancing innovation, green urban planning, and cultural diplomacy. For San Francisco—a city whose economy is increasingly intertwined with Asia-Pacific markets through trade, tourism, and tech investment—these visits are not merely ceremonial. They represent a calculated effort to safeguard economic interests, diversify visitor markets, and reinforce San Francisco’s identity as a globally engaged, culturally vibrant metropolis.
Reviving the Sister City Model in an Era of Strategic Competition
The sister city relationship between San Francisco and Shanghai dates back to 1980, one of the earliest U.S.-China municipal partnerships established during the reform and opening-up era. Over four decades, the linkage has facilitated student exchanges, municipal technical cooperation, and joint public health initiatives—even during periods of diplomatic strain. Similarly, San Francisco’s tie with Seoul, formalized in 1976, has supported collaboration in urban sustainability, public transportation, and arts programming. These enduring bonds contrast sharply with the current climate of strategic competition, where national rhetoric often overshadows grassroots engagement.
Yet, as Lurie prepares for his trip, municipal leaders emphasize that local diplomacy remains insulated from the volatilities of federal foreign policy. “Cities don’t have the luxury of disengagement,” noted Dr. Mina Chang, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and senior fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School.
“When national relations falter, it’s often city networks that keep channels open—through education, culture, and economic collaboration. That’s not naivety; it’s pragmatic statecraft.”
This perspective is echoed in a 2024 study by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, which found that U.S. Cities with active sister city programs reported higher levels of public trust in international engagement and greater resilience in local economies during global disruptions.
Tourism, Culture, and the Post-Pandemic Urban Economy
Beyond symbolism, Lurie’s agenda focuses on tangible outcomes: revitalizing tourism pipelines and promoting San Francisco’s creative economy abroad. Prior to the pandemic, Chinese and South Korean visitors ranked among the top five international sources of tourism revenue for San Francisco, contributing over $1.2 billion annually to the local economy, according to San Francisco Travel. While visitor numbers from both countries have rebounded slowly—China’s outbound tourism remains constrained by domestic economic concerns and visa processing delays—South Korea has seen a steady recovery, with Korean arrivals to the U.S. Up 18% year-over-year in Q1 2026.
In Seoul, Lurie is scheduled to meet with the Seoul Metropolitan Government and leaders of the Dongdaemun Design Plaza to explore joint cultural festivals and digital arts exchanges. “We’re not just selling hotel rooms,” Lurie stated in a pre-trip briefing. “We’re inviting artists, designers, and chefs to co-create experiences that reflect our shared values—innovation, inclusivity, and creative courage.” This approach aligns with a broader shift in urban tourism strategy, where cities prioritize high-value, culturally engaged visitors over volume-driven models.
Supply Chains, Innovation, and the Subnational Diplomacy Advantage
The geopolitical significance of these visits extends into economic security. Both Shanghai and Seoul are critical nodes in global supply chains—Shanghai as the world’s busiest container port and a hub for advanced manufacturing, Seoul as a leader in semiconductor production and green technology. While San Francisco does not compete directly in these sectors, its role as a nexus of venture capital, AI research, and design thinking makes it a strategic partner in innovation ecosystems.
To illustrate the depth of these intercity relationships, the following table outlines key metrics of San Francisco’s engagement with its sister cities:
| Metric | San Francisco-Shanghai | San Francisco-Seoul |
|---|---|---|
| Year Established | 1980 | 1976 |
| Annual Student Exchanges (pre-pandemic) | ~120 | ~90 |
| Joint Municipal Projects (2020-2025) | 8 | 6 |
| Visitor Spending (2019, USD) | $580M | $420M |
| Key Collaboration Sectors | Urban planning, public health, education | Sustainability, transit, digital arts |
These figures, compiled from official municipal reports and the Sister Cities International database, reveal a sustained investment in people-to-people ties that transcends headline-grabbing geopolitics. As Dr. Parag Khanna, founder of Climate Alpha and author of Connectography, observed in a recent interview:
“The future of diplomacy isn’t just in embassies—it’s in city halls, university labs, and design studios. When mayors invest in sister cities, they’re building the infrastructure of a more adaptable world order.”
Soft Power as a Stabilizing Force in Multipolarity
In an era marked by great power rivalry, subnational diplomacy offers a counterbalance to zero-sum thinking. By focusing on shared challenges—climate adaptation, urban inequality, digital inclusion—cities like San Francisco, Shanghai, and Seoul can forge practical cooperation even when their national governments diverge on strategic priorities. This does not imply naivety about geopolitical risks; rather, it recognizes that cities operate on different time horizons and incentives than nation-states.
Lurie’s trip, is more than a goodwill tour. It is a quiet assertion of municipal agency in global affairs—one that seeks to preserve channels of understanding, protect local economic interests, and model a more nuanced form of international engagement. As the mayor prepares to depart, his message is clear: in a fragmented world, the most resilient connections are often the ones grown closest to the ground.
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