Ｓｅｃｏｎｄ Ｈｉｇｈ－Ｌｅｖｅｌ Ｆｏｒｕｍ ｏｆ Ｗｏｒｌｄ Ｍｅｇａ Ｃｉｔｉｅｓ Ｄｅｖｅｌｏｐｍｅｎｔ Ｈｅｌｄ ｉｎ ａｎｔｏｎｇ

The Second High-Level Forum of World Mega Cities Development， co-sponsored by the China Association of Mayors and the Nantong Municipal People’s Government， was held in Nantong from October 22 to 23， 2005. Mayors， specialists and scholars from six world mega city belts gathered in Nantong again to participate in the Forum and discuss how to promote harmonious cooperation and development and other important topics.

Zhang Huaixi， vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC)， declared the Forum open on the afternoon of October 22. Attending the opening session included Wang Guangtao， minister of construction and executive president of the China Association of Mayors， Li Jiange， deputy director general of the Development Research Centre of the State Council， Wang Zhan， deputy governor of Jiangsu Province， Lu Jun， vice chairman of the Jiangsu Provincial Committee of the CPPCC， Luo Yimin， secretary of the Nantong Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China and chairman of the Mulicipal People’s Congress， Ding Dawei， mayor of Nantong， and Cheng Yamin， chairman of the Nantong Municipal Committee of the CPPCC. Mayor Ding Dawei presided over the opening session， at which Luo Yimin made a welcoming address. Minister Wang Guangtao， Vice Mayor of Washington D.C. of the U. S. Robert Bob and Deputy Governor Wang Zhan spoke on the occasion.

The 62 foreign participants came from 20 cities in 11 countries. They included mayors or their representatives of major cities of the world’s 5 mega city belts: New York， Washington D.C. and Chicago， Paris and Tokyo， and other world famous cities such as Saint Petersburg， Lausanne and Bucharest， etc. Mayors or vice mayors of 16 Yangtze River Delta cities with Shanghai at the head， and mayors of other10 cities including Hefei and Xuzhou were present at the opening session.

At the roundtable conference held on October 23， the participants had an in-depth discussion on “harmonious development”---the hot topic in present-day mega city belts---from the angles of the art of urban development planning， gathering and fluidity of essential factors of economic development， ecological environment and environmental protection， cultural tradition and innovative development， etc. in order to reach higher consensus for further cooperation and exchanges. Nantong Mayor Ding Dawei made a speech entitled “Highlighting special features， magnifying advantages， and building harmony”.