Global Forum on Urban Governance held in Tianjin


On May 19, the Global Forum on Urban Governance 2021 was held in Tianjin. With the theme of "Urban Development in the New Smart Era" the forum was the first activity held under the structure of the World Intelligence Congress to be held from May 20 to 23 in the metropolis.
Municipal leaders of Tianjin, representatives of international organizations, mayors of sister cities and representatives in other fields attended the conference both online and offline.
It attracted a total of 59 foreign diplomats, including 25 ambassadors, nine charge d'affaires, and their family members. Accompanied by staff from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the diplomat group visited Nankai University and the Five Great Avenues.

During their visit, the representatives to China spoke highly of the development of Chinese cities. Maldivian Charge D'affaires to China, Sobah Rasheed said that the great achievements made in China and the uniting force of the Chinese people made him feel the courage of the Chinese Communist Party and how Chinese people believe in its leadership.
Liao Guoxun, mayor of Tianjin, said at the conference "A city is the center of people's economic, cultural and social activities. As the new science and technology revolution and industrial revolution accelerates, especially when new information technology including artificial intelligence, big data, cloud computing and blockchains develop rapidly, urban development starts to have new connotations and requirements.”
Mayors of sister cities including Kizo Hisamoto, mayor of Kobe, Japan, Sally Capp, mayor of Melbourne, Australia and Andy Foster, mayor of Wellington, New Zealand also attended the forum online and gave speeches.
Capp responded to the theme of the forum and said that technology plays an important role in making cities smarter and that her city is doing different things to promote innovation to support changing communities, and this is especially important in the post-pandemic era.
An important purpose of the forum is to promote collaboration between Tianjin and sister cities. Attending the meeting online, Lin Songtian, president of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, indicated in his speech that sister-city relationships have become an important window for China's opening-up to the outside world and help realize international cooperation and mutual development.