Germany and China are protagonists and role models for a successful urbanisation process offering significant scope for transformation and innovation. As many cities and local governments take steps to become low-carbon and climate-resilient, they face common challenges to address sustainability and climate goals.
Over the past four decades, the Sino-German Mayors Programme has become one of the pillars of Sino-German city exchange and a beacon of bilateral cooperation between Germany and China. The core of the programme is the exchange and the development of mutual understanding of each other’s needs. Over time, the form and content of the programme was adapted from covering pure topics on urbanisation to the impact of (de-)industrialisation and structural transformation, to the current requirements on climate-friendly and sustainable urban development.
11th Sino-German Mayors Roundtable
To continue the dialogue, the 11th Sino-German Mayors Roundtable, organised by the “Urban-Act” project in collaboration with the China Association of Mayors (CAM), took place in Regensburg from 8 to11 April 2025. This event brought together 50 participants from ten cities of both countries. The focus topics were green urban transition and urban renewal and resilient cities. The representatives from Germany and China exchanged achievements and lessons learnt in areas including urban spatial planning, sustainable energy development, resource conservation and climate protection. Representatives held technical exchanges and visited sites of urban renewal and revitalisation of old industry zones in Regensburg, Munich, Heidelberg and Frankfurt.
First Sino-German City Summit
Following the revived Sino-German Mayors’ Programme in Regensburg in April, around 130 municipal leaders and experts from a total of 24 cities as well as business representatives from China and Germany met on 17 June 2025 for the first Sino-German City Summit in Frankfurt am Main. The City Summit was jointly organised by the “Urban-Act” project, the Chinese Friendship Association (CPAFFC) and the Chinese General Consulate in Frankfurt.
The summit kept the promise of an intensive partnership dialogue: Existing city partnerships were strengthened and expanded; new contacts and relationships between Chinese and German cities were established.
The two main themes explored through keynote speeches and panel discussions were:
- “Low-Carbon and Climate-Resilient Urban Development and Innovation” –focussing on practical and innovative solutions, with case studies from both German and Chinese cities on decarbonisation, environmental protection, resource efficiency, and climate resilience.
- “Tackling Global Challenges Together” –emphasising partnership-based city exchanges and cooperation on concrete projects related to sustainable energy and climate action.
Advancing Sino-German Urban Climate Cooperation
The events showed great potential for increasing cooperation between German and Chinese cities on low-carbon and resilient urban development. Both sides discussed and showcased sustainable concepts and models for climate-sensitive, viable and livable cities ready for implementation and dissemination. There is an urgent need for city-level stakeholders from the two countries to cooperate on these topics with the two events providing a suitable platform.
