拉丁根市（Ratingen）位于德国西北部的北莱茵威斯特法伦州（简称北威州），与这个德国最大的州的州府杜塞尔多夫市毗邻。面积约89平方公里，人口9万2千人。拉丁根于1276年建市，属于德国历史比较悠久的城市。虽然经历了包括两次世界大战在内的多次战乱，不少有数百年历史的古建筑却奇迹般保至今。
拉丁根市所处的地区正是在德国近代发展史上发挥过巨大作用的德国“鲁尔工业区”，一度是德国、乃至欧洲大陆最发达的传统工业中心。一流的基础设施将坐落在拉丁根周边的十数座工业城市连接成一片生机勃勃的经济区。在这个以传统重工业（钢铁、煤炭、能源、机器制造等）为主色调的工业城市集群中，拉丁根被称为鲁尔工业区的“绿色呼吸器/绿肺”：森林、草地、田野、水域竟占它的总面积的70%之多。正是这优越的地理位置、便利的交通条件、卓越的基础设施和突出的环境优势，吸引了众多的国际知名大企业在这里落户：如电气康采恩ABB、计算机软件国际巨头SAP、移动通讯跨国公司沃达丰（Vodafone）以及知名时装公司Esprit等。
惠山区与拉丁根市的友好往来已经持续20年。2007年5月，双方签约，正式成为友好城市；2012年和2017年，双方两次续签了友城协议。期间，惠山区政府多次派遣官方代表团对该市进行友好访问；拉丁根市也组织了政府及民间代表团回访，并多次参加无锡市举办的友城大会。惠山中专和省锡中先后应邀访问拉丁根市，开展师生友好交流活动。2020年2月，德国拉丁根市发来电子邮件，对惠山区抗击新冠疫情的努力表示关注及支持，并希望惠山区早日战胜疫情。
Introduction to Ratingen, Germany
Ratingen is situated in North Rhine-Westphalia, the biggest state of Germany, adjacent to its capital city Dusseldorf. It covers an area of 89 square kilometers with a population of about 92,000. Established in 1276, it has a profound history. In spite of the devastation of many wars, including the two world wars, many of its centuries-old buildings miraculously remain today.
The region where Ratingen is situated is Ruhr industrial area, which was the most developed center of traditional industry of Germany and even the European continent. It has played a huge role in the modern history of Germany. The state-of-the-art infrastructure turns more than a dozen industrial cities around Ratingen into a dynamic economic zone. In this industrial city cluster led by traditional heavy industry (steel, coal, energy, machine manufacturing, etc), Ratingen was named “green respirator/lung” of Rhur industrial area as its forest, grassland, field and water account for over 70% of its total area. Its outstanding geographic position, convenient traffic, advanced infrastructure and favorable environment have attracted many world-known enterprises to settle, such as electric Concern ABB, software giant SAP, mobile communications transnational corporation Vodafone, fashion company Esprit, etc.
Huishan and Ratingen have engaged in friendly exchanges for 20 years. They signed the sister-city treaty in May 2007 and renewed it in 2012 and 2017. Many mutual visits have been made between our governments and civil society. Ratingen had also attended the sister city forums held by Wuxi for many times. Huishan Technical Secondary School and Xishan Senior High School visited Ratingen successively for exchange with students and teachers at their invitation. In February 2020, Ratingen expressed their concern and support for our fight and wished us an early victory against COVID-19 epidemic through e-mail.
