Asia-Pacific city-to-city diplomacy activity held successfully online

Lyu Yanxia

O n June 10， the UCLG ASPAC Executive Bureau Meeting was held both online and offline in Xian， Shaanxi province， co-hosted by the Chinese Peoples Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries， the Xian Municipal Peoples Government and United Cities and Local Governments Asia-Pacific. Themed “Join hands to build robust， green and balanced cities for the future”， the conference had in-depth discussions on how to build a new type of cooperative partnership for future development.

Participating in the online opening ceremony and delivering speeches were Lin Songtian， president of the CPAFFC； Li Mingyuan， UCLG copresident and mayor of Xian； Ashok Kumar Byanju Shrestha， president of UCLG ASPAC； and Bernadia Irawati Tjandradewi， secretary-general of UCLG ASPAC. More than 300 people attended the opening ceremony via video link， including representatives of 28 Chinese member cities of UCLG， experts and scholars in relevant fields and representatives of member cities and local organizations from more than 20 countries， including the Republic of Korea， Indonesia， the Philippines， Nepal， India， Sri Lanka， Bangladesh and New Zealand.

Lin said in his speech that the Asia-Pacific region is the benchmark of global peace and stability and a promising land of cooperation and development. For decades， the region has maintained overall stability and enjoyed prosperous regional cooperation， forming a good environment featuring peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation and making itself the most vibrant and promising region in the world.

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership， Lin said， injected strong momentum into regional cooperation and development and highlighted its incredibly bright future.

Lin noted that China， as an old civilization and the worlds largest developing country， has fulfilled its solemn political promise to lift all its 1.4 billion people to decent lives. The Chinese government and people wont hesitate in their pursuit of peaceful， civilized and common development.

“With new philosophies， proposals and measures， including the Belt and Road Initiative， Global Development Initiative， Global Security Initiative and the initiative to build a community with a shared future for mankind proposed by President Xi Jinping， we have offered the world Chinese solutions to building a world of everlasting peace and common prosperity，” Lin said.

Lin said China has demonstrated many times that it is dedicated to winwin cooperation， common development with other countries and the wellbeing of people all over the world， not following the old zero-sum approach that emphasizes ones own gain at the expense of others.

Lin said prosperity wont be realized without peace and stability， adding that it is the common aspiration of the worlds people to pursue peace， development and cooperation.

“The CPAFFC would like to support the member cities of UCLG ASPAC in mutual respect， equality for win-win results and common development. We will prioritize scitech innovation and cooperation to build smart cites， promote collaboration on city transformation to build green cities and cooperate in city governance to build secure cities. Together we can build a community with a shared future in the Asia-Pacific region and enable each and every citizen living here to gain a stronger sense of fulfillment， security and happiness.”

Li said cities can serve as the basic unit to combat risks and challenges and that we can resort to nothing else but regional cooperation to tackle the challenges to our development. Advancing“robust， green and balanced” global development， as a consensus of the international community， holds the key to quick economic recovery， he said.

He also mentioned that in the past year， Xian and its counterparts in the UCLG cooperated in successfully hosting the Seven Keys Workshop； initiating two platforms for youth exchanges， which include online Chinese training program for ASPA and scholarship for international students along the routes of the BRI； establishing a tourism committee for this region； and launching the Local4Action Hub program.

“We are looking forward to deepening exchanges and cooperation between members of UCLG to realize common prosperity，” Li said.

Byanju said in his speech that cities in this region should contribute more wisdom and effort in promoting sustainable urban development in the spirit of mutually beneficial cooperation and common prosperity. Faced with challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic， all parties concerned should strengthen their city development plans， rise to the common challenges of climate change and public health crises to build a better living environment.

CPAFFC Vice-President Yan Dong attended the general assembly of the Executive Bureau Meeting and made a work report on behalf of the CPAFFC during the work conference. He introduced the innovative measures and fruitful results made by the CPAFFC in the past year in the fields of bilateral and multilateral city-to-city diplomacy.

The representatives present at the meeting thought highly of the meeting， actively offered their suggestions and discussed possible ways in the future to facilitate friendly exchanges and mutually beneficial cooperation. With extensive consensus reached， all attendees expect to deepen exchanges and collaboration to build a better future for the Asia-Pacific region.