UCLG 2005 Council Meeting and World Mayors Forum Held in Beijing

The 2005 Council Meeting of the International Organization of United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) and World Mayors Forum hosted by the CPAFFC were held in Beijing from June 8 to 10. About 400 mayors and representatives of more than 100 cities from 38 countries and regions attended the meeting and the forum. The participants all pledged to make concerted efforts to achieve the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) as scheduled.

UCLG, the largest international organization of local governments in the world at present, came into being in 2004 as a result of the merger of three worldwide local government and city organizations. Its members come from more than 120 countries and regions, representing over half of the world’s population. More than 1,000 cities and over 60 national local government associations are its members. The CPAFFC joined the International Union of Local Authorities (IULA), predecessor of UCLG, in 1999 on behalf of the Chinese local governments. CPAFFC President Chen Haosu is now vice president of the UCLG and president of UCLG Asia-Pacific Regional Section.

Zeng Qinghong, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and vice president of China, and Tang Jiaxuan, state councillor, were present at the opening ceremony. Vice President Zeng said in his speech, in the present-day world, peace and development become an irreversible trend of history and the shared aspiration of all the people around the globe. The UN MDGs conform to this trend of our times and give a new impetus to the economic and social development of all countries. The Chinese Government fully supports the UN Millennium Declaration, and has integrated the MDGs into its plans of economic and social development. Currently, the Chinese people are concentrating their efforts to push forward economic development and build a moderately prosperous society in an all-round way. In this process, we are building a socialist society that is democratic and law-based, fair and just, trustworthy and friendly, full of vigour and vitality, secure and orderly, and in which man and nature are in harmony. (Full text on page 3)

In his speech President Chen Haosu stated the CPAFFC’s positive attitude towards international cooperation between cities and local governments and emphasized that the aims of the CPAFFC to enhance people’s friendship, further international cooperation, safeguard world peace and promote common development, are highly identical to those of UCLG and also represent the basic position of the CPAFFC on international cooperation between cities and local governments. President Chen said, as progress being made in China’s modernizations, the world has been focusing its attention on China, opening up broader prospects for enhancing exchanges and cooperation between local governments of China and their counterparts in other countries. The CPAFFC will, as always, make due contributions to such exchanges and cooperation.

During the Forum, mayors of Paris, Rome, Barcelona, the Hague, Istanbul, Banda Aceh, Pretoria and other cities, leading members of Beijing and Tianjin Municipalities, Hunan Province, Guangzhou and Anyang Cities, and representatives of the United Nations and World Bank spoke. They had free discussions on the two main topics of the Forum: Local Authorities and UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Disaster Management, and reached consensus on most points under discussion. The participants all agreed that every country must work towards the realization of the UN MDGs and that such efforts cannot be separated from the work of the cities and local governments. On the other hand, local governments must carry out reforms to gear their work to the needs of the people at grassroots, while cooperating closely with the central governments, using the authority delegated by the central government to better perform their administrative and managerial functions and better serve the people.

Leaders of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Commerce, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Construction, the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, and other departments of China were present at the opening ceremony.