At the main event of the 2026 Global Mayors Dialogue · Ningbo held on Tuesday, mayors from different countries gathered in the east China city to share experience and jointly explore paths of future high-quality city development.
Sitting in the northeastern part of Zhejiang Province, Ningbo, which has actively integrated into the joint building of the Belt and Road Initiative in recent years, boasts extensive trade and investment ties with more than 220 countries and regions.
Through the dialogue event, Ningbo will continue to enhance advantage-based inter-city collaboration, exchanges and mutual learning to reinforce its opening-featuring business environment and innovation ecosystem, noted Wang Cheng, Party chief of Ningbo.
Cities, as pivotal carriers of economic globalization and windows for inter-civilization communication, always play a key role in open cooperation, economic development, and cultural and people-to-people exchanges.
Wayne Brown, mayor of Auckland, New Zealand, stressed that sci-tech transformation and globalization are issues of key concern for Auckland while introducing the city's advantages in geographical conditions and trade.
Said Karimi, mayor of Errachidia, Morocco, hoped to strengthen investment ties and communications with more cities across the world given Errachidia's rich tourism and ore resources.
After introducing the city's industrial history, Joachim Moyse, mayor of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, France, expressed hope of jointly building a bridge of cooperation and communication with Ningbo.
Mayors from other countries also expressed hope of enhancing cooperation with Ningbo in fields such as education, culture and industry.
In recent years, Ningbo has solidified cooperation with many cities abroad, serving as a reliable partner for its foreign peers in win-win development, according to Shen Mingquan, mayor of Ningbo.
As Shen introduced, Ningbo has carried out sci-tech innovation cooperation with more than 100 countries and established partnerships with over 500 overseas universities.
Photo shows a scene of an exhibition of the 2026 Global Mayors Dialogue event that opened in Ningbo, east China's Zhejiang Province, on November 2, 2026.
During the event, agreements for 14 projects in trade, education and cultural sectors were signed. The Ningbo Consensus on Collaborative Development was also signed, aiming to deepen industrial coordination, foster connectivity and bolster exchanges in culture, education and healthcare. (Edited by Duan Jing with Xinhua Silk Road, duanjing@xinhua.org)
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