On October 14, the Voluntary Service Launching Ceremony and Volunteer Training Session for the First Guangzhou Award for Urban Innovation ( Guangzhou Award) and Guangzhou International Urban Innovation Conference and Metropolis Board of Directors’ Meeting were held in Yunshan Conference Hall of Guangdong University of Foreign Studies. Over 830 volunteers from seven colleges and universities including Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, Sun Yat-sen University, South China Normal University, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou Communication Polytechnic and Guangzhou City Polytechnic participated in the event. Director General of Guangzhou Foreign Affairs Office (FAO) Mr. Liu Baochun, Deputy Party Secretary of Guangdong University of Foreign Studies Mr. Lu Jinghui, and Deputy Secretary of Guangzhou Youth League Mr. Sun Zhu were also present and spoke at the ceremony.

The ceremony was hosted by Deputy Director General of Guangzhou Foreign Affairs Office Mr. Wang Fuchun, in which all volunteers took their oath and were presented a silk banner by Guangzhou FAO Director General Mr. Liu Baochun.

After the Launching Ceremony, general training was given to the volunteers, which included basic facts about the Guangzhou Award, Guangzhou International Urban Innovation Conference and Metropolis Board of Directors’ Meeting, knowledge of diplomatic etiquette and foreign affairs disciplines, publicity management, concepts of voluntary service and an overview of Guangzhou and its folk customs. 

The Volunteer Team for Guangzhou Award and Guangzhou International Urban Innovation Conference, Metropolis Board of Directors’ Meetings is founded on the basis of Guangzhou Foreign Affairs Volunteer Team. Currently a total of 830 volunteers from seven colleges and universities including Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, Sun Yat-sen University, South China Normal University, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou Communication Polytechnic and Guangzhou City Polytechnic were recruited, whose majors cover 12 languages of Chinese, English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Russian, Portuguese, Indonesian, Korean, Japanese and Arabic. During the conference, volunteers will undertake tasks of concierge services, reception, logistics and publicity.