Ｆｏｕｒｔｈ Ｓｉｎｏ－Ｂｒｉｔｉｓｈ Ｌｏｃａｌ Ｇｏｖｅｒｎｍｅｎｔ Ｓｅｍｉｎａｒ

The 4th Sino-British Local Government Seminar jointly sponsored by the CPAFFC， the China International Friendship Cities Association， the China-EU Association and the Local Government International Bureau of the UK (LGIB) was held in Beijing on June 29， 2004. He Luli， vice-chairperson of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress， attended the seminar and delivered a speech. CPAFFC President Chen Haosu made a keynote speech. Ken Bodfish， chairman of the LGIB of the UK， Zhao Jun， director general of the Department of European Affairs of the Foreign Ministry， and Mme. Barbara Woodward， political counsellor of the British Embassy in China， delivered speeches at the seminar. About 80 Chinese and British representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs， the Development Research Centre of the State Council， provincial and municipal governments of China as well as the LGIB of the UK， the British Embassy in China， the British Chamber of Commerce in China and Napier University of Edinburgh of the UK attended the seminar.

In order to promote the exchanges between local governments of China and the UK， and develop an all-round strategic partnership between China and the UK from the nongovernmental angle， the CPAFFC and the LGIB of the UK have established a long-term cooperation mechanism and jointly hold the Sino-British Local Government Seminar， which has facilitated the exchanges and cooperation between the local governments at various levels， drawn extensive attention and won positive comments from both the Chinese and British governments. This seminar had two topics: The first one was experience and prospect of city twinning between China and the UK; the second one was urban and rural revitalization， and rejuvenation of old industrial bases.

Since China began twinning friendship cities with the UK in 1983， friendship city ties between the two countries have greatly developed. Up till now， 31 pairs of friendship provinces and cities have been twinned， which has effectively promoted exchanges and cooperation between the local governments of the two countries in the political， economic， cultural， scientific and educational fields. Some friendship provinces and cities have carried out active exchanges and cooperation and obtained fruitful results， thus reaching the aim of twinning friendship ties and accumulating experiences for other provinces and cities of the two countries that want to twin friendship ties. But， due to various reasons， some other friendship provinces and cities have carried out few or even no activities and obtained no substantial fruits from the friendship city ties. Thus， it is necessary to review the current Sino-British city twinning relationship so as to sum up experience， draw lessons from the past and explore new development pattern for the future twinning activities. At the seminar through an in-depth discussion on the experience and existing problems of friendship ties between the two countries， the representatives unanimously held that besides continuing to strengthen exchanges between governments and economic and trade cooperation， both Chinese and British local governments should consciously expand cooperation in the cultural， educational， scientific and technological and other fields， increase exchanges between people of various social strata and professions. Only in this way can cooperation between friendship cities be extended to more fields， retain vigour， and strike root in the hearts of the people.

The second topic was urban and rural revitalization and rejuvenation of old industrial bases. To boost up the restructuring and development of the old industrial bases in China’s Northeast is an important policy of the Chinese government， which has an important bearing on the country’s modernization and special significance for the coordinated development of different regions. As the world’s first industrialized country， Britain has rich experience in managing and reviving its old industrial bases and advancing the structural reform. Some British cities that have formed friendship city ties with China have achieved success in this aspect. At the seminar the British side briefed about the policy and practice of urban revitalization in the UK， and the Chinese side spoke about the thinking and suggestions of rejuvenating the old industrial bases in the Northeast. Through discussions， the representatives held that the seminar helped promote dialogue and exchanges in this field between the local governments of the two countries， and provided a platform for encouraging the British local governments and industrial and business sectors with their advantages in fund， technology and management to participate in the revitalization of China’s old industrial bases.