PENDLE, with a population of 90,000, could be twinned with a Chinese province that has six million inhabitants.

Delegates from the municipal government of the Changzhe province will be visiting the area on Monday to forge business links between the two areas.

And the discussions could see the two areas being officially twinned by 2012.

The delegates will be hearing about Pendle from the council's chief executive, Stephen Barnes, pictured, before visiting Merc Engineering in Barrowford and Pendle Heritage Centre.

The day will finish with the signing of an agreement for the two areas to co-operate in business and economics.

Changzhe has a population of almost six million, compared to Pendle's 90,000, but Pendle Council's executive director Philip Mousdale said the Chinese had been eager to work with the area.

The talks began back in 2002, after the two areas were introduced through Pendle's German twin town, Marl, which is also twinned with Changzhe.

An initial agreement was signed then and Mr Mousdale said the new document would mark the "second phase" in the union.

He said: "The twinning we already have with Marl and Criel in France is very much based on young people and culture, but the emphasis with China will be around economic co-operation, particularly in business and tourism. I think they see it as a bit of a toe-hold in Britain and they would like to develop interest in other areas as well as Pendle.

"I hope it will give potential for a lot of businesses to make links with china but it really depends on individual businesses to take that initiative - we can only put the framework in place.

"We hope it will mean that Pendle becomes better known for business and tourism. China is a growing economy looking to expand interests all over the world so it's great that they area coming to Pendle."