Chinese delegation of NDRC and Pilot Cities visit EU in 30th May – 07th June 2017
Led by the NDRC, two Chinese delegations visited four EU pilot cities on two routes. A delegation with representatives from NDRC, Zhengzhou and Changchun visited Málaga (Spain) and Agii Anargiri-Kamatero AKK (Greece). Another delegation comprising representatives from Chongqing, Shantou and Longyan visited Mannheim and Prague.
An important part of the IUC Asia city-to-city cooperation is the support to business development in areas related with sustainable urban development. Therefore, actions undertaken among European and Chinese cities included business roundtables. This is in line with the Sustainable Development Goals and UN Habitat’s New Urban Agenda. The key results are:
- Málaga
The programme gave delegates from NDRC, Zhengzhou and Changchun the chance to meet with representatives from Málaga municipal government (including the City Mayor), the Málaga Urban Environment Observatory (OMAU) and the Andalucía Smart City Cluster.
A half-day business session was arranged for businesses from Málaga and Zhengzhou to explore potential cooperation opportunities. Following fields were explored:
– Belt and Road: The Zhengzhou government and the China Railway Group were invited by FERRMED to attend its annual forum this year in November, Brussels
– Smart city (see below)
– Urban development (see below)
– Innovation (exchange of start-ups)
During the programme, two MoUs were signed: The Málaga City Council and Zhengzhou Municipal Government agreed to deepen its overall cooperation with the support of the IUC Project. Andalucía Smart City Cluster signed a separate MoU with Zhengzhou Development and Reform Commission to cooperate on the smart city development in Zhengzhou in order to set-up demonstration project.
- Agii Anargiri-Kamatero (AAK)
The two-day programme in AAK provided representatives with local experiences of various sectors of sustainable urban development. Field visits included the Environmental Awareness Park “Antonis Tritsis”, an urban refurbishment project (old railway station), the 1st European Environmental Education and Recycling Park and an innovation project located in the city centre.
At the event organized by AAK government, officials, experts and scholars were invited to introduce their experiences.
At a separate half-day business forum, businesses engaged in such sectors as real estate, engineering, logistics and consumer production met with Chinese businesses.
Sectors of potential cooperation are:
– Mobility and Infrastructure
– Logistics and Trade
– Innovation Hub for Greek SMEs
Both Zhengzhou and Changchun Jingyue signed a separate MoU with AAK to deepen its overall cooperation with the support of IUC Project.
- Mannheim
The programme provided the representatives of Chongqing, Longyan and Shantou with many interesting aspects of sustainable urban development. Meetings were held at the Mafinex Innovation Centre and included the issues of smart production (advanced manufacturing / industry 4.0), start-up collaboration, logistics and vocational training.
A Mannheim – China Business Roundtable was especially arranged with representatives of private sector (companies, chambers, associations), local policy makers (Mayor and former Mayor).
The pilot projects identified so far are:
– Smart Production
– Innovation
– Logistics
– Medtech
– Aging society
- Prague
The two-day programme in Prague included meetings at Prague City Hall with representatives from the Prague Institute of Planning and Development as well as meetings with the Prague Startup Centre–Prague ICT incubator.
Chinese delegates were able to visit the Holešovice development area, a best-practice on sustainable urban development of former industrial sites. Chinese delegates were inspired by this experience and invited Prague colleagues to visit China in order to provide advice on similar projects.
Following areas of cooperation have been explored:
– Innovation
– Urban development
– Aging population
