York's twin cities in Germany and France could be joined by a third - in China.

The prospect of ancient York being twinned with ancient Shaoshan - where China's most famous son, communist leader Mao Tse Tung, was born - has been put to the Lord Mayor, Coun Derek Smallwood.

It would give York a third twin after Mnster in Germany and Dijon in France.

Coun Smallwood said the suggestion had been put to him when a Chinese delegation visited the city recently and met the civic party.

He said Li Tieying, of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and a former Chinese education minister, had asked about the possibility of twinning with York.

Coun Smallwood said: "On his UK trip, he asked specifically to come to York because he knew it was a cultural place. He was impressed with the city and said he would welcome a twinning arrangement."

The Lord Mayor said there would be economic benefits. He said: "It would give the city of York a wonderful opening into the largest market in the world.

"Apparently, this town is very similar to York in many ways, such as size and history."

He said archaeological digs had indicated that both settlements had grown up at the start of the first millennium, in the first century AD.

Other commentators could offer different comparisons, like the fact that both places bore sons hell-bent on overthrowing their country's rulers.

Shaoshan is in Hunan province in central China and is the birthplace of Chairman Mao, who led the People's Liberation Army to victory in the 1949 communist revolution.

York, meanwhile, could offer the tale of the infamous Guy Fawkes, who despite being not quite as monumentally successful as Mao, is a legend nonetheless.

Coun Smallwood said he had taken the suggestion of twinning seriously and had passed it on to the City of York Council for consideration.

A council spokesman said: "We get a lot of requests from towns and cities interested in creating links with York. What we do is see whether there are concrete benefits to the people of York, especially in terms of jobs and investments. We will be treating this request in exactly the same way."

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