World Winter Cities Mayors' Conference: Commitment to opening up is necessary

World
Europe

02:52

Winter may be months away, but it's never too early to prepare. That's what representatives at the 18th World Winter Cities Mayors Conference are doing. What started four decades ago in Japan to solve winter issues in the world's coldest cities, has evolved into a platform for people around the world to collaborate. Xu Xinchen takes us to Shenyang.

Mayors and delegates from over 40 cities descended on the northeastern Chinese city of Shenyang this week.

For the second time, Shenyang is hosting the World Winter Cities Mayors Conference.

Those in attendance share a renewed determination to collaborate across borders.

JIANG YOUWEI MAYOR OF SHENYANG "We are called Winter Cities and we want to make lives better."

The mayor says Shenyang aims to groom its business environment to become more open to foreign investors. He hopes this in turn makes Shenyang a more important hub for Northeast Asia.

Initially, the conference was organized among cities in colder regions. But this year, a delegation from Africa came.

ESTHER M. MBAYO MINISTER FOR THE PRESIDENCY IN THE UGANDAN CABINET "I am sure the conference will be a vehicle that allows the Chinese, investors and leaders across the world to interact and share views."

Economic globalization is one of this year's key topics. Investors hope Chinese cities like Shenyang continue to open up and welcome foreign businesses.

JURGEN G. EBERBACH, VICE CHAIRMAN GERMAN-CHINESE FRIENDSHIP ASSOCIATION "Shenyang, as a manufacturing base for China has been closely working with German companies. I think firms from Germany as well as Europe are determined to work with cities like Shenyang."

While the US-China trade tension continues to hamper the global political climate, firms like ProLogis — one of the largest US logistics providers showed their confidence in working with China.

After investing over 100 million dollars in Shenyang last year, the firm signed another billion dollar deal with the city during the Mayors Conference.

BEN CORNISH PRESIDENT OF PROLOGIS CHINA "We've been here for fifteen years, and we are going to be here for decades to come and invest billions and billions of dollars into China's logistics infrastructure."

ProLogis' China operation has not been impacted much from the ongoing trade spat, as the firm focuses heavily on China's domestic consumption.

But Cornish points out that his firm is proactively working with the Belt and Road initiative to link its Chinese centers with Europe.

He says Shenyang is an important part of that plan. By doing so, the firm is expecting billions and billions of dollars in return by bringing European goods into China. Xu Xinchen, CGTN, Shenyang.