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Dr. Clos (left) and Mr. Liu. |
The new Permanent Representative of the People’s Republic of China to UN-HABITAT, H.E. Mr. Guangyuan Liu, has stated that his country attaches great importance to the role of UN-HABITAt in the world. According to Mr. Liu, “UN-HABITAT has become a very important organization in China.” The envoy made the remarks 12 November while presenting his credentials to the Executive Director, Dr. Joan Clos. Mr. Liu told the Executive Director that China needed support from UN-HABITAT.
He said: “We still need your expertise. We want to mobilize our rural areas. Urbanization is a very important task for the Chinese Government.” He assured the Executive Director that the Chinese Government would like to support UN-HABITAT in any way possible. “If there is anything our office can do for you, please let us know … China will support you and UN-HABITAT,” Mr. Liu stated.
The Executive Director thanked the Chinese Government for its support to UN-HABITAT so far. He recalled that China recently hosted two major United Nations events, namely the Fifth Session of the World Urban Forum held in the city of Nanjing in 2008, and that this year the World Expo was hosted in the city of Shanghai, at which UN-HABITAT coordinated the participation of the entire United Nations system.
Dr. Clos took the opportunity to espouse his philosophy of the city, noting that he sees a city as a living organism that requires strategic thinking for the future. He said that “It is better to have a decentralized city like the world wide web – a city without a definite centre.” He stated that in this kind of city, mass transport is necessary and there is need to plan within existing villages, while taking into account the need to protect the environment. He also shared his concept of corridors of energy and transport among cities in a country. The envoy invited the Dr. Clos to hold a seminar on urbanization in China.
Dr. Clos praised the Chinese people for their commitment to excellence. He declared: “You have very good people in China. Your country is building beautiful cities. You have revolutionized your cities. Fantastic development is taking place in your economy.”
He sated that UN-HABITAT would like to have even closer relations with China, particularly on how Asian and African countries can learn from t China’s success story. He stated that he would use the Chinese example as a way to promote the need for city planning, noting that most countries do not know how to properly manage local resources.
Mr. Liu explained that the money for the funding of Chinese cities usually comes from the central government, from cities taxes and from loans from development banks.
Dr. Clos stated that his relations with China began long ago recalling that, in 1984, when he was the Deputy Mayor of Barcelona, the city established the sister cities programme with the Chinese city of Shanghai. He expressed the hope that his relations with China will grow even stronger. |
