‘WELCOME to Newport’ signs still adorn the name of the Chinese province that hosts a controversial dog meat festival every year.

Newport City Council says it cut all ties with the Guangxi province in 2019 – but four years later, the city of Wuzhou still features on at least three signs welcoming motorists on the A48 and M4.

The southern China province has hosted an annual dog meat festival in the summer since 2009.

The celebration in Yulin – which borders Wuzhou – lasts around 10 days.

Almost 40,000 people signed a petition to end Newport’s relationship with Guangxi owing to reports of the animals being held in inhumane conditions and tortured before being slaughtered for meat.

South Wales Argus: Newport signsNewport signs (Image: Google)

Then-council leader Debbie Wilcox pledged to remove all twinning references to Guangxi from city signs.

Four years later, the city of Wuzhou still features on “Welcome to Newport” signs.

Welsh Conservative city councillor John Jones, who describes animal welfare as his “passion in life”, has said the council should be “ashamed” for the relationship with Guangxi which is still referenced on trunk road signs.

“The Labour-run Newport City Council should be ashamed of themselves for allowing our city to be twinned with Wuzhou in China," he said. "It is a disgrace to see road signs within our city boundaries showing the names of such places that have been highlighted as having low standards towards animal welfare.

“This issue has previously been discussed in 2022, when the Newport Conservatives demanded the names be removed as a priority to ensure people travelling into Newport do not associate us with animal cruelty.

South Wales Argus: Wuzhou sign on A48Wuzhou sign on A48 (Image: Google)

“The council should operate to higher standards and remove the offence names from all road signs with haste.”

A spokesperson for Newport City Council has confirmed all ties were cut officially in 2019.

“All signs relating to twinning that are on Newport City Council’s highways network have been amended. A few of the old signs are still in place on the trunk roads but these will be changed when possible and appropriate,” a spokesperson said.