On April 22nd, Guangzhou Institute for Urban Innovation (GIUI) and North American Local Authorities Conference (CALAN) held a virtual signing ceremony to set up a strategic partnership. The meeting was hosted by President of North American Local Authorities Conference, Javier López Casarín.

Guests included: the Consul General of Mexico in Guangzhou, Carlos I. Giralt-Cabrales, Vice President of Guangzhou People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (GZPAFFC), Kuang Changping, and Vice President of GIUI, Yuan Ding.

Mr. Carlos said that Guangzhou has been actively engaged in city-to-city exchanges, building up a deep friendship with Mexican cities and providing outstanding cases and experiences for global urban innovation. He praised the all-electric public bus fleet, the accelerated growth of the subway network, urban landscape, and the conservation and creation of new green areas in different districts of Guangzhou. He believed that Guangzhou’s modern and innovative development practice could provide a reference for Mexico’s urban development. Mr. Carlos said that the Memorandum of Understanding highlighted the importance of innovation on improving the social, economic and environmental sustainability of our cities and regions. At the same time, it would facilitate the creation of new cooperation initiatives that would ultimately contribute to the prosperity and life betterment of our countries’ citizens.

According to Vice President of  GZPAFFC, Mr. Kuang Changping, the joint collaboration between GIUI and CALAN is a further progress made in the friendly cooperative ties between Guangzhou and Mexico City, and the outcome of broadened and deepened people-to-people exchanges under the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Mexico. He believed that in the spirit of a Community of Shared Future for Mankind, the two sides could promote the exchange and mutual learning between cities and enable local governments to play a greater role in achieving the SDGs.

The North American Local Authorities Conference was first initiated by Mexico City of Mexico in the 1st North American Mayors Summit in 2019. It is a friendly cooperation organization between cities and local governments in North America, aiming to enhance the role of local governments and address common issues of urban and local development. The Guangzhou Institute for Urban Innovation was founded in 2013 under the framework of the Guangzhou Award. GIUI commits itself to facilitating the Award’s assessment and research, seeks to develop a global urban innovation system, promotes friendly exchanges and cooperation between global cities, and pushes forward global cities’ innovative growth and shared development in harmony.