01
5 Oct 1949
DiplomatsRelations five days after the founding of the PRC. The third country in the world.
FOUNDING NOTE · FOR TIM YANG AND ANDREIA WANG · OCTOBER 2026
The table has roots. They are older than any of us, and they are on the record.
TuanGo is not an idea we had. It is the next form of something that already exists between two peoples and has existed for seventy-seven years. We did not want to found a community on a feeling, so we went to the archives. Below the ground line: six roots, each with a date, a document and the people who made it.
ABOVE GROUND: WHAT IS NEW 2026 · THE TABLE
BELOW GROUND: WHAT WAS ALREADY THERE PEOPLE, NOT REGIMES
1989 PASSED, THE ROOTS HELD
02
1958 · Sichuan
EngineersRomanian oil specialists beside Chinese crews at the wells. "Early industrialization" (Li Keqiang, 2013).
03
1970 · the floods
WorkersThe other direction: Chinese aid, about a third of all help Romania received.
04
25 Oct 1971
DiplomatsCo-sponsor of the resolution that seated the PRC at the UN (doc. A/L.630). Vote: for.
05
2004 · 2009 · 2013
Leaders, after 1989Partnership (2004). Xi Jinping: "the Chinese people will not forget" (2009). Li Keqiang in Parliament (2013).
06
2021 · 2024 · 2025
AmbassadorsPeople's Daily, twice: Romania "played an important role". Xi, 2025: "the third country".
THE METHOD
Peoples, not regimes
Why "peoples" and not "governments". The governments that signed in 1949 and voted in 1971 are gone: Romania changed its whole political order in 1989. The relationship did not fall with them. In 2004 the two countries signed a partnership. In 2009 Xi Jinping said in Bucharest that "the Chinese people will not forget" the Romanian people's support. In 2013 Li Keqiang told the Romanian Parliament that Romania's help had "contributed significantly to the early industrialization" of New China. In 2024 the Chinese ambassador wrote it again in People's Daily. A bond that survives the fall of the regime that signed it does not belong to the regime. It belongs to the people who did the work: the engineers at the wells, the diplomats who put their name on a draft, the workers who sent aid after the floods, in both directions.
Why TuanGo grows from these roots. Look at how the friendship was made, and you find the rules of this community already written. We did not invent the method; our grandparents' generation did, and the Chinese side wrote down that it worked.
"Romania took its seat beside China early, in 1949, and stood up for China's seat in 1971. TuanGo is the same gesture, made by companies instead of states, and kept the same way: in person, in writing, for a long time."
ON THE RECORD
The Chinese side’s own words
上世纪50年代，罗马尼亚等中东欧国家的无私援助，为新中国早期工业化建设发挥了重要作用。
In the 1950s, the selfless assistance of Romania and other Central and Eastern European countries played an important role in the early industrialization of New China.
Li Keqiang, Romanian Parliament, 27 November 2013 (gov.cn).
中国人民不会忘记……在恢复中国在联合国合法席位事务中……罗马尼亚人民都给予我们同情、支持和帮助。
The Chinese people will not forget ... in restoring China's lawful seat at the United Nations ... the Romanian people gave us sympathy, support and help.
Xi Jinping, Bucharest, 20 October 2009 (MFA).
作为当年的‘两阿提案’共同提案国之一，罗马尼亚为新中国恢复联合国合法席位发挥了重要作用。
As one of the co-sponsors of the proposal of that time, Romania played an important role in New China's return to its lawful seat at the UN.
Ambassador Han Chunlin, People's Daily, 5 October 2024.
牢固的传统友谊是稳定之‘锚’。
Solid traditional friendship is the anchor of stable relations.
Li Keqiang, 2013. The Chinese premier saying what the cover of our book says: the relationship first, the business follows.
| How the friendship was made | The record | The rule of TuanGo |
|---|---|---|
| They met in person | Romanian specialists at the Sichuan wells, 1958; delegations in both directions ever since. | No order before a meeting. A face, a factory, a document. |
| One concrete thing at a time, written down | A draft resolution with a number (A/L.630). An aid shipment with a value. A speech with a date. | One specification, one order. The price is published, to the line. |
| Early, before it was fashionable | The third country in the world, five days after the founding of the PRC. | A seat taken early, at the same radius as everyone else. No head of the table. |
| Kept through changes of regime and fortune | Acknowledged in 2004, 2009, 2013, 2021, 2024 and 2025, long after 1989. | The partnership outlasts the order. Ten relationships still alive in 2036. |
The United Nations record
Draft resolution A/L.630, 25 September 1971, submitted by 21 states including Romania, later 23. Romania was also among the 17 states that asked for the item to be put on the agenda. Adopted as Resolution 2758 on 25 October 1971: 76 for, 35 against, 17 abstentions; Romania for. Statement for Romania by Deputy Foreign Minister Nicolae Ecobescu, A/PV.1977. All in the UN Digital Library and the UN Yearbook 1971.
What we claim, and only this
Romania was early, present and on the record, with others: 23 co-sponsors and 76 votes in 1971; "Romania and other Central and Eastern European countries" in the 1950s, in the premier's own words. We claim no more than the documents, and we need no more.
What we never say
That Romania "built" anything in China or "brought" China anywhere. That any government owes any other. Anything about the politics of those decades, on either side. The story is about engineers, diplomats and workers: that is who made it, and who sits at this table.
THE SOURCES
A date, a document, a person.
Sources: gov.cn, Li Keqiang speech, 28 Nov 2013 · MFA, Xi Jinping in Bucharest, 20 Oct 2009; gov.cn, Xi message to President Dan, 22 May 2025 · People's Daily, Han Chunlin, 5 Oct 2024; Jiang Yu, 14 Oct 2021 · PRC Embassy, Liu Zengwen, 24 Nov 2010 (oil industry; 1970 flood aid) · The Paper, Sichuan oil history (1958) · UN Digital Library A/L.630 and Add.1; UN Yearbook 1971 ch. 8; A/PV.1977 · Joint Statement on the Comprehensive Friendly and Cooperative Partnership, 2004. Written by Razvan Laichici, CMO; the full file is available to any founder on request.
BEFORE THE FIRST DINNER
The Chinese edition is the one to hand over.
On request
The Table Has Roots
Before any first dinner. The Chinese edition is the one to hand over.
Ask for the documentINVITATION ONLY
We do not promise what we cannot build.
We promise an invitation, a seat, a partner who has been met in person, a price that is published to the line, and a relationship that is meant to outlast the order.