Beijing, Copenhagen Enhance Co-op on Sustainable Cities

W ith its economic restructuring， Beijing is putting more efforts on sustainable development and enhancing cooperation with Copenhagen of Denmark， which has its advantages in this sector.

Recently， Chen Gang， Vice Mayor of Beijing， and Frank Jensen， Mayor of Copenhagen， signed a Memorandum of Understanding in Copenhagen. With the memorandum， the two cities promise each other a close collaboration on sustainability in planning and construction.

The memorandum is the first result of the Sister City Agreement between the two capitals， signed in Beijing in June.

“It is a great honor for Copenhagen to welcome Vice Mayor Chen Gang so soon after our two cities became Sister Cities，” said Frank Jensen， adding “There is a great potential in collaboration on planning and construction.”

“Copenhagen is a city of great importance in Northern Europe and serves as the most developed region in Denmark in terms of commerce， emerging manufactural industry， service industry， and foreign trade. Recently， Copenhagen has made magnificent progress in practicing the idea of urban sustainable development and accumulated plenty of experiences，” said Chen.

“The two cities have boasted enormous potentiality to cooperate in sustainable city planning and construction. By signing the MoU， it will give rise to strong impetus for both sides to carry out practical communication and cooperation in relevant areas， from which citizens of respective city will surely benefit，” Chen added.

China is shifting to green economy under the 12th Five-Year Plan. Denmark， as one of the first-movers in the global green growth arena， can benefit commercially from China’s rapid green transition. The collaboration between the two cities will involve Danish and Chinese enterprises.

“I believe a more sustainable growth in China can turn out to be an advantage to Danish companies because of the technologies and solutions we have developed in our effort to create a green economy，” Karsten Dybvad， CEO of the Confederation of Danish Industry， was quoted as saying by Xinhua.

“While we in Copenhagen can make good use of innovative Chinese technologies， for instance， electric buses， Copenhagen has shown good results in integrated planning， where we combine the way the individual building is constructed with the energy supply and the infrastructure for transport. It’s good for the environment， the economy and the quality of life，” said Frank Jensen.

“Beijing serves as the Chinese political and cultural centre as well as the hub for international exchanges. The city has been built over 3000 years and served as the country’s capital over 850 years. Meanwhile， Beijing is also a worldrenowned historical city with splendid culture and an extraordinary Olympic city. In recent years， Beijing has been committed to industrial reconstructuring and transformation of economic development mode， striving hard to realize sustainable development of the city，” Chen pointed out.

According to Chen， next year， a number of electric busses from China will be tested in the Copenhagen public transport system. The Chinese supplier has cleverly solved the problem of storing enough energy for a full-length bus， beneficial not only for the quality of air and noise， but also for the climate.

And a restructuration of the heating system in Niujie community in Beijing， carried out by the Danish company Danfoss， resulted in a significant increase on temperature， saving 31.2% of the electric power as well as 13.1% of the heat energy.

A chairman at Deputy Director General Level from each city will be responsible for a working group that will meet at least once a year to advance dialogue and cooperation and involve enterprises from both sides， according to the Denmark Embassy in China.