2015-10-19

On October 19^th, 2015, at the invitation of Mr. Mario OCCHIUTO, President of Cosenza Province, Mayor of Cosenza City and President of Commission of Structural Cohesion and South Developmentof National Association of Italian Municipalities, Mr. ZHANG Yi attended the annual conference of National Association of Italian Municipalities and delivered the keynote speech.

National Association of Italian Municipalities is the official association of Italy whose mission is to promote the information exchange and regional cooperation between mayors across Italy. Mr. Mario OCCHIUTO, President of Commission of this National Association has headed the Delegation to attend 2015Songshan Forum, of which the Commission was the co-organizer. 

Mr. ZHANG Yi delivered his speech around two important topics, namely, the Belt and Road Policy of the Chinese government and EU-China partnership on the urbanization. He pointed out thatthe Commission was actively engaged in the work of constructing the efficient platform of the economic cooperation and cultural exchange between EU Member States and China. The Commission was the co-organizer of 2015 Songshan Forum and invited the Delegation from Cosenza Province of Italy to attend the Forum. The great success of the Forum had made the sensation in Henan Province of China. This fact proved that there should be more channels of facilitating communication between EU Member States and China. Therefore, the Commission, China International Culture Exchange Center and Cosenza Provincial Government of Italy have been jointly exploring the new and innovative avenue to construct the platform of exchange and cooperation, which will serve European and Chinese cities in a more direct and efficient way. This effort would surely bring more tangible projects to the regional development and cooperation between China and Europe.

Mr. ZHANG Yi’s speech received the positive feedback from the mayors across Italy who were present at the meeting. Italian mayors presented the thunderous applauses for Mr. ZHANG’s words and vied with each other in airing their willingness of becoming the new member of this new platform of exchange and cooperation in order to carry out closer cooperation with Chinese mayors. Mr. Mario OCCHIUTO stated that Cosenza Provincial Government would go all out to cooperate with the Commission and carry on, foster Sino-Italian friendship of such a long history.

After the Conference, Mr. ZHANG Yi held the field investigation of multiple cultural and economic cooperation projects with the companionship of Mr. Mario OCCHIUTO, which would serve to further formulate the road map of the in-depth cooperation between Cosenza Province and Henan Province.

Mr. ZHANG Yi and Mr. Mario OCCHIUTO

Mr. ZHANG Yi at Italian Parliament

During his visiting in Cosenza, Mr. ZHANG Yi had the special field investigation of the classic castle tourist project with distinctive local features. The Commission had the intention of promoting this project in the Chinese tourist market with local partners of Cosenza in order to enrich the tourist product line and enable Cosenza and other Chinese regions to become the tourist destination to each other. With the history of more than two thousand years and numerous natural, historic tourist resources, Cosenza will surely become the ideal resort zone for the future Chinese tourists.

The Classic Castle Tourist Project in Cosenza

Annex

Municipal Development Union within the Context of Cooperation

along the Belt and Road

ZHANG Yi, Executive Chairman of Europe-China Culture and Economy Commission

Mr. President and Mr. Mayors,

Good day!

It is my great honor to be invited and attend this meeting. I am delighted to have a chance to expound the stands and measures adopted by Europe-China Culture and Economy Commission on the issue of municipal development union within the context of cooperation along the Belt and Road. I expect Italian mayors who attend the meeting will benefit from the actual experiences of years that our Commission has accumulated in the capacity of European non-profit organization with the deep roots in China. 

First of all, please allow me to give a brief introduction to our Commission. Europe-China Culture and Economy Commission was established in 2006 in Brussels, Belgium in line with No. GA06428 File of Non-Profit Organization, Council of European Union. In 2008, our Commission set the seat of its operative Headquarters in Beijing, P. R. China. Since the day of its establishment, our Commission is devoted to the effort of facilitating cooperation between EU and China in the multiple fields, such as economy, culture and trading and provides the services to EU Headquarters, EU Member States, EU enterprises, the Chinese government and Chinese enterprises with a view to constructing a platform for economic cooperation and cultural exchange in the spirit of openness, equality and reciprocity. The Honorary Chairman of our Commission is Mr. Gianni De Michelis, the former Vice Premier and Foreign Minister of Italy. I am Executive Chairman.

As an European non-profit organization that has been operating in China for seven years, our Commission has accumulated rich experiences in the related fields and is ready to share them with the mayors present at the meeting in order to jointly explore the avenue of the cooperation between Europe and China in the new era. 2015 is a special year. 45 years ago, Italy and China had officially established the diplomatic relations. 40 years ago, China had established the diplomatic relations with European Economic Community, the predecessor of European Union. When we are celebrating two anniversaries with special significance together, on March 28th, the Chinese government has officially promulgated the paper “Vision and Actions on Jointly Building Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road”. Undoubtedly, the publicity of the concept “the Belt and Road” has enkindled the full expectations from those of different walks of life who are devoted to the work of promoting regional development between Europe and China and realizing win-win situation. While trying to understand the policy in full details, they are more eager to know which cooperation method, which cooperation field can become the convergence of the short-term, middle-term and long-term interests and realize the harmonious integration between economic and social benefits, which will benefit European and Chinese people. In order to evaluate the feasibility of cooperation within the new context, our Commission invited Mr. Mario OCCHIUTO, Governor of Cosenza Province and Mayor of Cosenza City to head the delegation to attend Songshan Forum, which was held on September 12th and 13th in Dengfeng, Henan Province. The Italian delegation has carried out the in-depth dialogue with Henan Provincial Government and Zhengzhou Municipal Government on the topics of economic cooperation and cultural exchange between Italy and China. On the basis of these facts, I and Mr. Mario OCCHIUTO have presented the initiative of establishing an international non-profit organization with the oriented service for EU-China partnership on urbanization and harmonious cooperation between “the Belt and Road” policy of China and “Junker Investment Plan” of EU. Our initiative has been highly recognized by Henan Provincial Government that is willing to become one of the founders of this organization. On the basis of the full assessment from different fields, we have determined to nominate this new organization as EU-China Municipal Development Commission, which will be abbreviated as ECMDC.

Before I fully explicate the mission and tasks of ECMDC, I feel obligated to explain the two keywords, “municipal” and “development” in the first place in order to enable all of you to have a better understanding of our conception and to evaluate the significance and feasibility of setting up municipal development union within the context of cooperation along the Belt and Road.

As we all know, city has become the major living space for our human being on this planet. The modern civilization of the world gradually takes its shape with the progress of cities. The congregation of people has created material demands of all sorts step and step, while the action of sharing ideas between different persons has become more convenient. During the long process of human living, city has become the birthplace for industrial technology and the ensuing utilization space, which has constructed the complex commodity relationships and henceforth shaped the contract consciousness and other spiritual fruits of modern civilization. At present, city is the ultimate destination of production, circulation and consumption of social wealth. Urbanization has become one of major human methods of mobilizing and distributing social resources with a view to realizing the rational development. Admittedly, Europe possesses the most complete and authoritative practical examples of all sorts in this field. Historically speaking, China was consistently a country with agricultural civilization. It was peasants, not urban dwellers who formed the major body of Chinese population. So, in the true sense, the differences between Chinese and European cultures actually can be traced back to the differences between urban civilization and rural civilization. The great economic achievements China has made now can be described as the history of urbanization development. Like European peasants several centuries ago, more and more Chinese peasants flock into cities in order to pursue the better life and rewrite the development history of China with their industry and wisdom. The urbanization in China not only enables us to witness the emergence of cities with different sizes on the vast land of China, which has transformed the inhabiting environment that Chinese once possessed for thousands of years, but also urges Chinese to embrace modern civilization in the further sense. The convenience of urban life charms more and more people to develop the social consciousness of sharing the common destiny. While Chinese are engaged in the work of creating material wealth, their spiritual wealth has been enriched as well.

Because of the important role that urbanization has played, is playing and will play in the development of China, Mr. LI Keqiang, the then Vice Premier of the State Council of P. R. China signed the Joint Declaration on the EU-China Partnership on Urbanization with Mr. Jose Manuel Durao Barroso, President of European Commission during his visiting the Headquarters of EU in Brussels, Belgium. Premier LI Keqiang attaches his attention to the EU-China partnership on urbanization and has classified the urbanization as the important power for the economic development of China. Premier LI has given instructions and delivered the speeches on the topics of urbanization and EU-China partnership on Urbanization on multiple domestic and international occasions. Obviously, the Chinese government expects to join hands with EU Member States to forge ahead with a view to promoting the municipal development in China and Europe as well through the cooperation. I should ask all of you to observe this fact: in 1978, China began her open-up and reform in the true sense. To some extent, it is the origin of contemporary urbanization in China. The open-up and reform of just 37 years have enabled the economy of China to take the dazzling strides and have brought forth Beijing, Shanghai, the unforgettable cities that can be compared with other prestigious cities in the world. However, it should be admitted that the progress that has been made in China over 37 years does not mean that Chinese cities will possess the concomitant experiences of municipal governances that European cities have accumulated over hundreds of years. In China, the problems caused by urban planning and governance have incurred various criticisms. Urban dwellers of China expects more high-quality municipal services and more enjoyments of municipal civilization at higher levels after the basic demands of inhabitation and production have been satisfied. For European cities that have the related experiences over hundreds of years, it will be a remarkable cooperation opportunity. European cities can present their own histories and cultural charms to Chinese urban dwellers; in the meanwhile, the good will of carrying out the friendly cooperation can be realized through the concrete projects of economic cooperation and cultural exchange. The cooperation will promote the development; the development will create and deepen the friendship, which will usher in the new cooperation. We can foresee that the sky is the limit as for the integration between the advanced governing experiences of European cities and Chinese actual demands.

It should be pointed out that EU-China Municipal Development Commission, ECMDC is set up within the context of the cooperation along the Belt and Road. Since the promulgation of the Belt and Road policy, there have been so many scholars and professionals who have explicated the policy from different perspectives. According to my humble knowledge, the essence of the Belt and Road policy is what Mr. XI Jinping, President of P. R. China has stated, namely, to deepen the reform and to broaden the open-up. While playing more and more important role in the world, China is expected to liberate the productivity through the further reform in order to make the further improvements in line with the actual needs. To enable the economy of China to embark on the sustainable development road will not only be in the interest of Chinese people, but also be of great value to the economic prosperity of the world. While being engaged in the reform, China should learn from and utilize the advanced experiences and technologies of foreign countries in order to find the solution to the present problems with the open attitude. The further the reform will be, the larger the needs of open-up will be. Therefore, the Belt and Road policy is the good will the Chinese government has stated to the world, while China hope to share peace and development with other countries in the world. 

On the basis of above-mentioned consensus, ECMDC will be centered on the promotional work of economic cooperation and cultural exchange between Europe and China with a view to furthering the mutual understanding and cultivating the friendship between Chinese and Europeans through the cooperation projects. This is the mission of ECMDC, it is our purpose of setting up this organization. In the future, we are determined to entrust ECMDC with the following tasks:

ECMDC will become the embodiment of people-to-people diplomacy, economic diplomacy and cultural diplomacy. Through this work, ECMDC will accumulate high-quality resources and build up the talent tank in various Chinese and European circles of politics, industries, academies, culture and sciences and technologies. ECMDC will gradually become the innovation-oriented think tank and provide the scientific assessment and intellectual support to all the cooperation between China and Europe. ECMDC will become the new channel for EU-China cooperation and will boost the regional development.

ECMDC will be dedicated to the work of communicating the advanced experiences of municipal governance between Chinese and European cities. ECMDC will formulate the down-to-earth and practical road map as the services towards municipal governance through the seminars, field investigations and innovative cooperation in line with the actual situations of Chinese and European cities.

ECMDC will lay emphasis on the execution of high-quality cooperation projects between China and Europe. ECMDC will deliberately select the high-quality projects for the member cities in accordance with the actual demands of Chinese and European cities in order to explore new avenue for the regional and municipal development.

ECMDC will seek the optimum combination between economic development and social welfare with the effort of realizing the sustainable development of regions or municipalities as the objective. ECMDC aims to provide the new perspective for the municipal governance through sharing the advanced experiences. ECMDC will fully rely on the advanced experiences accumulated in Europe in the field of eco-friendly environment management, the preservation of cultural relics and ruins, long-distance education, the vocational skills training, medical and healthcare industry and will turn all these experiences into the concrete cooperation projects through which the municipal governance service of Chinese cities will be improved. Chinese and European people will benefit from the positive outcomes.

ECMDC will explore the new method of interdisciplinary innovation cooperation. On the basis of fully understanding actual situations and demands of member cities, ECMDC will form the interdisciplinary cooperation platform between circles of politics, scholars, culture, sciences and technologies with the purpose of liberating the dynamic power of enterprises within municipalities. ECMDC will embark on the journey of regional development through the achievements of enterprises.

ECMDC will be actively engaged in the work of building up the power of discourse and will promulgate the future achievements in due forms. ECMDC will present the examples and models for the municipal governance in the world and will gradually build up its power of influence.

ECMDC will choose the 21st century smart city construction as the starting point and will set up the platform for the sharing of experiences, disseminating of information and cooperating of projects as for the global challenges in the field of urban planning, cultural build-up, art design, scientific and technological innovation, smart manufacturing, urban and innovative agricultural technologies.

ECMDC will cherish the people-to-people communication and will try to fulfill the work of sharing the experiences, information, achievements and jointly cooperating between Chinese and European design talents. ECMDC will improve the understanding of the counterpart’s culture between Chinese and Europeans through two-way tourist exchange.

I have detailed the proposal of ECMDC with many Chinese mayors, who have showed the great interest in it and vie with each other to become the first founders of our organization. After the full discussion with all the founders, we intend to choose five Chinese cities that play an important role in the implementation of the Belt and Road policy and five European cities as the first allied cities at the initial stage. We will explore the best model for the municipal development cooperation between Europe and China in the new era. In the meanwhile, we are looking forward to establishing the close partnership with all the potential friends and gathering the valuable advices of all sorts for the development of ECMDC.

I believe that, when urbanization has become the main human living form, the pursuit of development has been the primary human demand, and the cooperation has been classified as the necessity of human existence, within this context, to construct the new alliance between Chinese and European cities will be greatly promising. I expect all the mayors present at the meeting to become the members of ECMDC gradually and make the contribution to the friendship between Europeans and Chinese and their welfare.

Thank you!