The second mission of EU cities to China took place from 21 to 28 September 2019 – with delegates from the following European cities: Barcelona (Spain), Bologna (Italy), Granada (Spain), Manchester (UK), Mannheim (Germany) and Rome (Italy). The programme began with a visit to Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, at the heart of the Pearl River Delta. As the most populous city in Southern China and part of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area, Guangzhou is known for its advanced manufacturing industries, namely automobiles, electronics and petrochemicals. With a population of about 15 million people, the city is one of the three largest cities in China and serves as a major port and transportation hub in Southern China. The EU delegates visited the Guangzhou Development District (GDD), one of the top three of the more than 200 development zones in China. The GDD has various national industrial bases and parks, emerging industrial bases and municipal-level strategically technological emerging industries bases, in areas such as electronic information and new materials, e-commerce, and intelligent equipment. There are also platforms for the Guangzhou Knowledge City, Guangzhou Science City and Guangzhou International Biotech Island. Since 2014, the GDD has been a pilot region of the EU-China Regional Cooperation Mechanism. Focus of the meetings will be Smart City and Smart Manufacturing.
Other visits included nearby Beijiao Town in Foshan City, known for excellence in industrial design, and Liuzhou, an important industrial city and one of the five automobile bases in China. Liuzhou was IUC pilot city in 2018. Areas of possible collaboration are Smart City, Vocational Training and Technological Innovation.
Highlight of the Second EU Mission to China was the participation in the 2019 EU-China Green and Smart City Summit & EU-China Green and Smart City Awards in Nanning, Guangxi Province on 26 September 2019. The Summit was hosted by the China Centre for Urban Development (CCUC), the Foundation Prospective and Innovation together with the Guangxi Provincial Government. It was the fourth summit, following previous events in Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Ningbo, in which 300 cities from 32 countries and regions in China and Europe had participated. The EU-China Green and Smart City Summit is the most successful platform to foster green and smart city cooperation and exchange. (Source: https://www.iuc-asia.eu/2019/09/second-eu-cities-mission-to-china/)
