Ｆｉｒｓｔ Ｈｉｇｈ Ｌｅｖｅｌ Ｃｈｉｎａ－Ｆｒａｎｃｅ Ｆｏｒｕｍ ｏｎ Ｌｏｃａｌ Ｇｏｖｅｒｎｍｅｎｔａｌ Ｃｏｏｐｅｒａｔｉｏｎ

The First High Level China-France Forum on Local Governmental Cooperation sponsored by the CPAFFC， the China International Association of Friendship Cities and the Guiding Committee of the High Level China-France Forum on Local Governmental Cooperation was held by the Wuhan Municipal People’s Government in Wuhan from October 27 to 28， 2005. Over 600 delegates from the Chinese and French local governments attended the Forum. With the aim of seeking friendship， cooperation， development and win-win results， at the Forum delegates of the two countries had in-depth discussions and extensive exchanges on the cooperation between the Chinese and French local governments in city projects and other fields， reached importance consensus and unanimously approved the “Wuhan Declaration of China-France Local Governmental Cooperation.”

The aim of the Forum was to promote cooperation between the Chinese and French local governments and substantiate and deepen Sino-French comprehensive strategic partnership through dialogue between the Chinese and French local governments.

He Luli， vice chairwoman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress， Chen Haosu， president of the CPAFFC， Brice Hortefeux，minister-representative of the French Ministry of Local Government Affairs， Pierre Mauroy，former French prime minister， Philippe Guelluy， French ambassador to China， took part in the activities of the Forum and gave speeches. Yu Zhengsheng， member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and secretary of the Hubei Provincial CPC Committee， and other leaders entertained the chief French delegates. 284 French delegates from the central and local governments and 320 Chinese delegates from the central institutions and provinces and cities attended the Forum. After the opening ceremony of the Forum， lectures on the functions of Chinese and French local governments and local government round-table meeting were held. After that， delegates were divided into four groups to discuss the topics of urban environment， city planning， urban traffic， and the way of international cooperation between local governments. At the closing ceremony， the delegates of the two sides approved the Wuhan Declaration of China-France Local Governmental Cooperation， expressing that the two sides would make further efforts to enhance understanding and friendship between the two peoples and promote common progress and sustainable development of the two sides in the economic， cultural and social fields in the way of development catering to their own needs. The Declaration also proposes holding the Forum in China and France in turn at nonscheduled intervals， setting up a Coordination Committee of the Forum so as to constantly sum up the results of the cooperation between the local governments of the two countries and put forth new proposals on further improving the exchanges between the two sides.

This Forum was an activity of bilateral exchanges held for the first time in the past four decades since the establishment of Sino-French diplomatic relations for the purpose of enhancing understanding， increasing exchanges of information and deepening cooperation between the local governments of the two countries. It has extended the great successes of the China-France Culture Year in three aspects: first， Sino-French friendly exchanges before 2005 have extended after 2005; second， cooperation and exchanges have extended from the level of central government to that of local governments; third， cultural exchanges have extended to cooperation in the political， economic and social areas. Just as CPAFFC President Chen Haosu pointed out in his speech at the closing ceremony that these three extensions indicate that the mutual appreciation of each other’s culture will surely stimulate the economic， political and social cooperation between the two countries and lead to win-win results.

The main characteristics and fruits of the Forum are as follows:

First， the participants of the Forum were high-ranking， in great number and representing broad sections of the population. The French delegates included one incumbent minister， one former prime minister， three former ministers， 17 presidents and vice presidents of regional assemblies， 5 presidents of provincial assemblies， 18 mayors and vice mayors. The French Prime Minister’s Office， the Senate， the Ministry for External Relations， the Honorary Committee of the France-China Culture Year， the Association of Regions of France， the Assembly of Departments of France， the Association of United Cities of France， the Association of Mayors of France all sent representatives to attend the Forum.

Among the Chinese delegates there were 7 leaders at provincial and ministerial level and 22 leaders at city level. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs， the State Environmental Protection Administration and 34 local authorities including the Beijing Municipal Government sent representatives to the Forum.

Second， discussions on substantial contents with “city projects” as the focal topic were held. Along with the progress and development of modern society， local governments at the forefront of governance and closest to the common people are now playing an increasingly important role in the fields of politics， economy， culture， public health， environmental protection， etc. In addition， local governments of various countries， in varying degrees， are faced with the same or similar problems such as how to better solve the problems of economic development， expanding employment， social security， urban construction， environmental pollution， exploitation of resources， traffic jams etc. At this Forum within the big framework of “city projects”， four topics of “city environmental protection， industrial ecology and economic development”， “urban planning and development and protection of cultural relics”， “urban traffic planning， construction and administration” and “the aim， purpose and way of cooperation among local governments” were discussed in-depth at the panel meetings.

Third， Sino-French local governmental cooperation mechanism was initiated. Cooperation between the Chinese and French local governments started in the 1980s when Chengdu and Montpellier were twinned as the first pair of friendship cities between the two countries. Since then in the past more than 20 years， 48 pairs of friendship cities and provinces were twinned， and more than 80 provinces and cities have established friendly and cooperative ties. Friendly cooperative relations between the Chinese and French local governments have been developing steadily. Along with the acceleration of the process of economic globalization， deepening of China’s reform and opening up and continuous growth of China’s national strength and strengthening of state-to-state relations between China and France， more and more local governments of the two countries strongly wish to go beyond the scope of friendship cities and expand cooperation with other cities of each other’s countries. In such a context， delegates of 44 French regions， provinces and cities and local officials of 26 Chinese provinces (regions)， cities jointly put forward a proposal for setting up the Coordination Committee of High Level China-France Forum on Local Governmental Cooperation so as to keep in contact with their own central governments， constantly sum up the results of cooperation and make suggestions on improving cooperation. The delegates of the two sides also proposed holding the Forum in China and France in turn at unscheduled intervals.