Chongqing / Berlin, 18 Jun 2008 - During his three-day China trip, Dr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Germany’s Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs, opened the first bilateral conference on urbanization in Chongqing. The problems of increasing urbanization in China were the topic of the ‘Chongqing Dialogue on Urbanization’. The conference is part of the ‘Germany and China - Moving Ahead Together’ event series.

In his speech, Foreign Minister Steinmeier underlined the importance of urban development in solving global problems: "Neither climate change nor issues of the circumspect use of natural resources can be solved without taking a look at big cities."

The Communist Party of China Committee Secretary of the Chinese city of Chongqing, Bo Xilai, touched upon the special role of the metropolis of Chongqing in his speech: "Unlike the coastal cities, the mountain city of Chongqing lies on the upper reaches of the Yangtze and has a large population. Currently it is in an important development phase. That is why environmental and urban planning is so crucial for this city." At the same time he welcomed the urbanization forum as a good place to strengthen German-Chinese cooperation in this area.

During the two-day conference experts from Germany and China got together for the first time to discuss ideas, solutions and projects related to sustainable urban development, energy efficiency, transport, mobility, supply and infrastructure. Their common goal: to create cities that are worth living in.

The complete conference programme can be viewed here.

The “Germany and China – Moving Ahead Together” event series is hosted by the Foreign Office in cooperation with the Goethe Institute, which is managing the project, the Asia-Pacific Committee of German Business (APA), and the “Germany – Land of Ideas” initiative. The series is under the joint patronage of Germany’s Federal President Horst Köhler and China’s President Hu Jintao, and will make stops in six regional metropolises from 2007 to 2010. The next Germany Esplanade will take place in Canton in autumn 2008. Canton will be the next stop for ‘Germany and China - Moving Ahead Together’, from October to December 2008