Distinguished Mr. Feng Guo Qin, Mr. Zhao Qi
zheng, Dr. Han Fang ming, dear Melissen, Gratz, ladies and gentlemen,
Good afternoon!
It's our great pleasure to celebrate the
first World Cities Day and the opening of the 3rd International Forum on Public
Diplomacy. I would like to extend my warm welcome to all of you.
The Shanghai Expo was successfully held
four years ago, and Shanghai Declaration was announced by 56 international
organizations. In the meantime, World Cities Day was established then. With
globalization and urbanization, people have to deal with all kinds of
opportunities and challenges, and cities are becoming more important for a
better life. The UN approved World Cities Day.
Shanghai, as a super Metropolis, has
realized great economic, social and cultural development since its opening up
30 years ago, especially the opening up of Pudong District.
Shanghai has been in the front line of
China's opening up. With its unique characteristics, Shanghai has been
dedicated to making a positive international image by developing city diplomacy
and public diplomacy and serving the overall national diplomacy. There are over
70 consulates, more than 100 foreign media agencies, thousands of
representative offices and organizations of foreign companies in Shanghai. What
is particularly worthy of mentioning here is that Shanghai has established
friendly relations with over 60 countries and 70 cities in five continents,
which lay a solid foundation for Shanghai's practice of city diplomacy.
Shanghai's progress in culture and
civilization are realized by learning the essence of foreign cities. Premier Li
Keqiang visited EU recently, and he emphasized that the China-EU cooperative
partnership is of great importance for both countries. Europe is the terminal
of Ancient Silk Road, China-Europe relation has been close ever since. As
Premier Li pointed, relation between China and Europe likes an overpass, which
connects the two countries together and carries the dreams of both countries.
Personally speaking, cities are junctions. Among the friendly cities of
Shanghai, over 20 are in Europe, with which Shanghai has made frequent
exchanges and cooperation. Former premier Zhu Rongji has praised the friendly
relationship between Shanghai and Europe is model for international friendly
cities. I hope this forum will explore more ways for city diplomacy, promoting
cities' exchanges between China and Europe to a new high level.
Ladies and gentlemen, Shanghai municipal
CPPCC has been highlighting and giving a lot of support to public diplomacy
with its own advantages. Since the establishment of Shanghai Public Diplomacy
Association in 2011, a lot of efforts have been made to the exploration and
practice of public diplomacy. It is our great honor to share our achievements
and experience in city diplomacy with experts, scholars from both home and
abroad. It would be of great importance to discuss the topic of city diplomacy
on World Cities Day.
Finally, I sincerely wish the forum a great
success and best wishes to all of you! Thank you very much!