On September 24, the Sino-German Urbanisation Partnership (SGUP) team met with DDG Li Zhe of the Foreign Affairs Department of MoHURD and other senior officials from the Chinese partner ministry of the SGUP, and representatives from the Chinese Academy of Urban Planning, to discuss the ongoing activities of both sides for the remainder of the project period till June 2021. On October 31, China will observe the World Cities Day in Fuzhou with this year´s thematic focus on “Valuing our communities and cities”. The SGUP will support this event with project activities. For 2021 the SGUP confirmed to organize again the long-standing Sino-German Mayor´s Program, based on a delegation trip of mayors from a selected Chinese province to Germany. The SGUP will also organize for the first time a training program and a symposium on sustainable urbanization between MoHURD and BMU. Details for both events were discussed, together with a preparatory exchange on the Chinese participation in the Daring Cities virtual conference in October 2020. Both sides acknowledged that COVID-19 burdens international cooperation, but both sides’ efforts to minimize its impact on the SGUP have been successful so far.
Photo Credit: MoHURD