Opening Remarks by Deputy Director General Wu Jinkang at Regional Workshop on Sustainable Urbanization in Shanghai
(Note: this is a translated version from Chinese to English.)
Ladies and Gentlemen,
First of all, on behalf of the International Department of China’s Ministry of Finance, I’d like to extend my warmest welcome to friends from the ten Asian economies attending this Regional Workshop on Sustainable Urbanization under the PRC-ADB Knowledge Sharing Platform today. I would also like to take this opportunity to express my sincerest thanks to the co-sponsor of this event, the Asian Development Bank, for its close cooperation and support, and to the co-organizers, the Shanghai Finance Bureau and the Asia-Pacific Finance and Development Center for the efforts they have made in preparing and organizing this event.
Knowledge cooperation between the Asian Development Bank, being the biggest multi-lateral development organization in the Asia-Pacific region, and China, the largest developing country in the world, not only enriches their own partnership, but contributes to the experience shared among developing economies in the region and indeed to the further development of the whole region. For this reason we have proposed that the Asian Development Bank take the lead in establishing a knowledge sharing platform between China and other developing economies for the purpose of promoting South-South knowledge cooperation in the region. Recognizing the equality of all the economies represented here and believing that a pragmatic approach tailored to the needs of Asian developing economies is the most effective, we are holding this workshop on Sustainable Urbanization. This is the first event under the PRC-ADB Knowledge Sharing Platform and is conducted in partnership with the Asian Development Bank with support from the Shanghai Finance Bureau and the Asia-Pacific Finance and Development Center. We are confident that it will prove fortuitous for future cooperation.
The city is a symbol of human civilization and social progress. Looking over the world economy, we know that economic focus is mainly on city clusters, so it is clear that the sustainable development of a region, a nation, even the whole world, depends on that of cities and city clusters. With the expansion of globalization and urbanization, rapidly-developing Asian cities, especially large cities, are playing an increasingly important role in the economic development of Asia and the world. However, with these development opportunities, Asian cities face common challenges such as overpopulation, depleting resources, and environmental degradation. We must be aware of the fact that a city is a complex system composed of economic, social, environmental and institutional systems that are interactive and interdependent while at the same time mutually restraining. Environmental sustainability is the basis of this complex system, economic sustainability the condition, social sustainability the purpose and institutional sustainability the guarantee. Without the coordinated development of these factors, sustainable urbanization will not be attained. Each economy has its own successful stories in this area. The platform facilitates experience and practice sharing by permitting the members to communicate and learn from one another and shall serve to create a benchmark for effective strategies in sustainable urbanization in the region.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It has only been a month since we celebrated the 60th anniversary of the founding of People’s Republic of China. The past 60 years has witnessed great changes in China’s urban, social and economic development. With accelerating pace of urbanization, urban planning and urban structure become more effective. The urban economy has been playing an increasingly important role in the national economy. The urbanization level has risen to 45.68% in 2008 from 7.3% in 1949, with the number of cities up to 655 in 2008 from 132 before the founding of New China. This makes China a country with one of the longest periods of rapid urbanization in the world. At the same time, the system of urban development in China has matured. In addition to the old, established Yangtze Delta and Pearl River Delta areas, many more city clusters in northeast, central and southern China have emerged. In spite of the rapid development, we are fully aware that the urbanization process in China is the largest in scale and the most sophisticated and challenging in the history of world. There are many unsolved problems, such as issues of employment, land use, environment and transportation. In this regard, we need to learn and draw on the experiences of other economies.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Asia is one of the most dynamic regions of the world with great potential for development. Though the conditions of individual nations may differ, we face the same tremendous tasks of eliminating poverty, keeping regional peace and stability, and promoting regional economic growth for the welfare of the people to the mutual benefit of all nations.
As a member of the Asian family, China has taken an active part in building regional cooperation. We follow a policy of entering into partnerships and indeed friendships with neighbors in the region and fostering an amicable, stable and prosperous community.
The financial crisis has the world economy in a severe state. China and other Asian economies are facing the same challenges of maintaining the social and economic stability of their own economies and of the region as a whole. We are in the same boat with regard to the world economy, and must all work together to meet the challenges for sustainable development and prosperity.
Everyone here implements and creates urbanization policy in the cities of their respective economies. We all share the mission of promoting the sustainable development of cities. Today, we gather not only to share with others our successes stories, but to draw lessons and explore sustainable urbanization models suitable to each of our own economies. Thanks to close geographical proximity and cultural similarities, South-South cooperation among the Asian developing economies is more pertinent and the lessons to be learned more applicable. We sincerely hope the PRC-ADB knowledge sharing platform can create new channels of communication and new ways of cooperation among the Asian developing economies, breathing new vitality into South-South knowledge cooperation.
And finally, let me wish great success to the workshop and may you enjoy your stay in China.
Thank you.
