Research, Development and Evaluation Commission

The “2013 Taipei-Shanghai City Forum” kicked off in Shanghai on July 4, 2013. The annual twin-city forum came to its fourth year since the first forum was organized in 2010, which initiated high-level communications and exchanges between Taipei and Shanghai, the most prominent cities of Taiwan and mainland China. In order to further strengthen the cooperation between the two cities, Taipei City Mayor Hau Lung-bin led a delegation to attend the Forum this year.

The breadth and depth of exchanges this year was greater than ever. In addition to experience sharing on the developments of education, seniors care, sports and media industries through presentations and discussions at the forum and tours of designated industry parks, also arranged during the four-day visit were the Industry Forum on July 3 and the Taipei-Shanghai Middle School Sports Festival on July 2-5. Furthermore, a group of young athletes from Taipei attended an 8-day training program and received world-class coaching in Shanghai.

Taipei City Mayor Hau Lung-bin and Shanghai City Mayor Yang Xiong inaugurated the City Forum with speeches on “Vision and Focus for Future City Development.” Following the two mayors’ talks, government officials and scholars from both cities presented insightful observations and shared experiences regarding the developments of education and seniors care. As with the arrangement of the forums in past years, the 2013 City Forum was closed with the signing of memorandums of understanding on cooperation of city district governance, library services, and citizen hotline.

During the visit, Mayor Hau and his delegates also toured Hongqiao Business District, Shanghai Multimedia Valley, Shanghai Cangcheng Film Industry Park and Shanghai Oriental Sports Center, in seeking ideas and models for the planning of Taipei’s Media Industry Park and Cloud Industry Ppark.

Facing challenges of city governance nowadays, it is believed that frequent and in-depth exchanges between governments of Taipei and Shanghai will enhance the quality of living and strengthen the competitiveness of both cities.

Reference:
Mayor Seeks Strengthening on Mutual Exchanges during Shanghai Visit