7th International High-Level Forum on Sustainable Urban Development Held in Wuhan

The forum is listed as one of the Deliverables in the Belt and Road Forum on International Cooperation with theme of Promoting the High-quality Sustainable Urban Development. 

Ms. Odicea Angelo Barrios, Human Settlements Officer of the Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific of UN-Habitat made the opening remark. She stated that the cities welcome the unprecedented opportunities to take the lead to plan and design as well as manage transition towards including, resilience, sustainability, economic growth and shared prosperity, and highly recommend Wuhan for showing the path to sustainable urban development. 

Mr. Chen Yajun, Deputy Secretary General of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) illustrated promoting the sustainable urban development requests the city leaders to focus on urban green and livable, safety and resilience, innovation and smart governance, opening and collaboration. 

Mr. Shao Xinyu, Executive Vice Governor, Hubei Provincial People’s Government highlighted the cities are built by the people and are for the people. And the high-quality urban development requires planning guidance, innovation driven, City-Industry integration, Green and Low-carbon.

Mr. Sheng Yuechun, Deputy Secretary of the CPC Wuhan Municipal Committee and Mayor of Wuhan, committed that Wuhan is a technology Innovation Center, which take the reform as the driving force to promote the high-quality development and efficient governance. 

Two Initiatives were released during the plenary session, which are the Belt and Road 20 Cities Sustainable Development Initiative by Mr. Gao Guoli, Director General of the China Center for Urban Development, and the Wuhan Initiative on Resilient Cities of the Belt and Road Sustainable Cities Alliance by Chen Jinchao, Member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Wuhan Municipal Committee and Vice Mayor of Wuhan Municipal People’s Government. 

Five parallel sessions were held focusing on People-Centered Approach to Advancing Resilient and Low-Carbon Urban Development, Innovation-Driven Development of New Quality Productive Forces, Digital Economy and Smart Urban Governance, Win-Win Cooperation for an Open Economy & The Belt and Road Sustainable Cities Alliance Roundtable and Leverage Green Finance to Promote Sustainable Urban Development. 

Participants actively exchanged innovative practices in sustainable urban development, shared experiences in modern urban governance, and discussed approaches to advancing high-quality sustainable urban development. Over 400 representatives from cities along the Belt and Road, international organizations, renowned experts and scholars, and domestic and foreign enterprises attended the forum.