Tianjin and Bilbao are friendly associated on February, 23rd, in 1995.

Bilbao is the largest city in the Basque Country and the capital of the province of Biscay), Spain. The city has 353,168 inhabitants (2007) and is the most financially and industrially active part of Greater Bilbao, the zone in which almost half of the Basque Country¡¯s population lives. As a major seaport and industrial centre, the city is located on the Estuary of Bilbao, the city's suburbs extending to the Bay of Biscay.

Greater Bilbao is the Basque Country's main economic area and one of Spain's most important. The metropolitan area concentrates several key industrial sectors: steel, energy production, machine tool, aeronautics industry, electronics and IT. The municipality of Bilbao has been an industrial one for decades, but the heavier industries have been moved from the city center to the periphery and the city has centered its activities in the services sector which accounts for the 75¡¯5% of the city's added value. The GNP per capita is 19,648€ (FY 2000), slightly above the average of the Basque Country and well above the average of Spain. The city is the corporate seat of the BBVA bank and Iberdrola electric company.

The International Trade Fair, now Bilbao Exhibition Centre (BEC) hosts many international level exhibitions, especially the Biannual Machine Tool Fair (BIEMH), that help dynamizing the economic life. On top of BEC, Bilbao has the Euskalduna Palace as a congress center.

The port of Bilbao is the most important one in the north of Spain and one of the most important in the Bay of Biscay. In 2005, the port moved 36.8 million tonnes, being the fourth port of Spain after Algeciras, Barcelona and Valencia.