Ｓｐｅｅｃｈ ｂｙ Ｂｅｉｊｉｎｇ Ｅｘｅｃｕｔｉｖｅ Ｖｉｃｅ Ｍａｙｏｒ Ｊｉｎ Ｌｉｎ

It gives us great honour to host the 2008 China International Friendship Cities Conference here today. This conference is a grand get-together for international friendship cities， cooperation and development in the new situation. Here， on behalf of the Beijing Municipal Government and all its citizens， I would like to extend warm congratulations on the convening of the conference， as well as welcome and good wishes to all the participants from home and abroad. The Beijing Olympics and Paralympics as the world spotlights were successfully concluded not long ago. From bidding to hosting， the municipal government and residents of Beijing have been sincerely assisted by local governments and citizens around the world including those from our friendship cities. I’d like to take this opportunity to express our heartfelt appreciation to you.

Beijing has been committed to strengthening exchanges and cooperation with world local governments since reform and opening up in 1978. In March 1979， Beijing and Tokyo signed the friendship-city agreement， marking the official beginning of Beijing’s friendship-city contact with the rest of the world. We are happy to see in the past 29 years Beijing has maintained a healthy and steady momentum of development in its relations with world local governments， including those of its friendship cities.

—Growing friendship with world cities. The number of Beijing’s friendship cities has been continuously increasing over the recent years. At present， Beijing has twinned friendship ties with 43 cities in 39 countries. In addition， the friendly exchange mechanism has been established between Beijing and another 19 foreign cities.

—Frequent exchange of high-level visits， political mutual trust and mutual understanding enhanced. From 2004 to 2007， more than 200 delegations and groups of municipal level from foreign countries were received and more than 2，510 occasions involving foreign guests were attended by leaders of Beijing Municipal Government. The active high-level exchanges have made inter-city relations closer and deeper.

—Broader scope of relations yields fruitful results. The expanded relations now cover such multiple areas as culture， economy， trade， sci-tech， education and sports. The form of exchange has developed from mutual visits and exchange of goods to sharing technologies and information concerning all aspects of urban construction and management.

These facts prove that the relations between Beijing municipality and world local governments are solidly based with huge potentials for future growth. With this good momentum， we should seize the opportunity， give full play to each other city’s strength and break new grounds in our exchanges and cooperation， aiming at promoting economic and social development of our cities.

With preparing for the Olympics on top of the agenda of the municipal government in recent years， Beijing has been growing along with the progress of preparation. The reform and opening up as well as the modernization drive were pushed ahead by materializing the vision of “green， sci-tech and people’s Olympics”. Now we have stronger capacity for sustainable development， much better air and rapidly expanding public transit system. Social programmes are improving， giving us better education and social security. Progress is also scored in urban-rural development， environment improvement and response system for public emergency incident. People are living a much better life and working for greater prosperity.

The success of Beijing Olympics and Paralympics injected new vitality into the city’s economy and society. In the years to come， at an accelerated rate， Beijing will be more urban， market-oriented， international and modern. Open wider to the rest of the world， Beijing’s economy will be more closely linked with the world economy， and have a wider range for shifts of elements of production and industries. The new situation and trend provide broader prospect and set higher demand for the future exchanges and cooperation between us. In coming days， our efforts will be focused on the following four areas in developing the international relations:

First， stepping up contact and exchanges and enhancing mutual trust and friendship. Mutual trust and friendship are fundamental to effective cooperation and facilitate exchanges in various fields. To pursue peace， development and cooperation has become the trend of our times， which enable us to forge closer ties with our friendship cities and world local governments， find new exchange mechanisms， develop both bilateral and multilateral relations and create favourable environment for exchanges and cooperation.

Second， sharing the Olympic experience and building new platforms for exchanges and cooperation. Through hosting Olympics and Paralympics we have accumulated experiences in institutional innovation， venue operation， security and city management， meanwhile good sports facilities and rich cultural heritage have been left to us. We will take the opportunity to expand international exchanges and cooperation by sharing Olympic legacies with world cities.

Third， working together to respond to challenges arising from urbanization and building up cities’ capacity of sustainable development. The sustainability of Beijing in city development has been strengthened over the recent years through materializing the vision of “green， sci-tech and people’s Olympics”. But we are fully aware that there is still a long way to go to overcome the constraints caused by population， resources and environment. So the Beijing Municipal Government decided to carry further the Olympic vision for a more people-friendly， technology-empowered and greener city， and strive to make the economic and social development coordinating with the condition of population， resources and environment. We are willing to strengthen exchanges and cooperation with world cities in environment protection， transportation and other areas of city management and construction， and to learn from each other so as to improve governance of the city and achieve sustainable development.

Fourth， deepening people-to-people exchanges. People-to-people exchange is an important part of a city’s international relations and gives a broad base supporting the exchanges and cooperation between the local governments. Cultures around the world are different， but also similar and could have much interaction with one another. We will further encourage and push forward people-to-people exchanges in all areas and at all levels， particularly among our youths， and build a multi-level system of exchanges.

Looking into the future， we have confidence in further deepening friendship and cooperation with the local governments in the world. We open our arms for visitors， investors and entrepreneurs coming to Beijing. On the basis of consolidating the achievements of the Olympics， we will continue to upgrade the construction and management of the city， as well as render better services in more fields to the citizens. May our exchanges and cooperation achieve new successes!