Gwangju Mayor Kang Gijeong Puts Full Effort into Global City Diplomacy in Guangzhou, China

Discussion on Cultural and Economic Exchange Cooperation, Urban Sustainability, and More

Emphasis on Global Solidarity to Address Climate Crisis and Urban Issues

Gwangju Mayor Kang Gi-jung conducted global city diplomacy in Guangzhou, China. Emphasizing the need for global solidarity to jointly address urban issues such as securing urban sustainability, establishing a foundation for cultural and economic exchange cooperation, and the climate crisis, he focused on enhancing competitiveness through city diplomacy.

According to Gwangju City on the 11th, Mayor Kang visited Guangzhou, China, for 3 nights and 4 days from the 6th to the 9th. He actively promoted the "charm of Gwangju" to the world through a series of events including signing an agreement to strengthen exchange and cooperation with Guangzhou, a promotion day for tourism revitalization, attending the World Mayors Forum and the International Urban Innovation Awards ceremony, and meetings with the mayors of Bogot?, Colombia, and Darwin, Australia.

Mayor Kang highlighted Gwangju's charms as ▲ a democratic city known for the May 18 Democratic Movement ▲ a cultural and artistic city with the Asia Culture Center (ACC) and Gwangju Biennale ▲ a future industrial city centered on artificial intelligence (AI) and automobiles, while seeking ways for inter-city solidarity to secure urban sustainability.

First, he attended the 3rd World Mayors Forum held at the Wushu International Convention Center upon official invitation from Guangzhou City, meeting with mayors from over 100 cities to discuss solutions to current urban issues.

The World Mayors Forum is a forum among cities co-hosted by the United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG), Metropolis, and Guangzhou City to explore solutions to various urban problems faced by large cities.

At the opening ceremony of the World Mayors Forum held on the 8th, Mayor Kang delivered the fourth congratulatory speech following UCLG General Assembly President Ugur Ibrahim Altay, Mayor of Konya, Turkey; Claudia L?pez, Mayor of Bogot?, Colombia and President of Metropolis; and Sun Ziyang, Mayor of Guangzhou, China. He emphasized the importance of sustainability, receiving applause from attendees.

In his opening speech, Mayor Kang stated, “The world is urging the role of cities for sustainable development. When cities become sustainable, the world becomes sustainable,” adding, “Gwangju has been operating the World Human Rights Cities Forum for the 13th time, and last year shared opinions with scholars, experts, and policymakers worldwide on ‘citizens and cities threatened by the climate crisis,’ and this year on ‘cities responding to poverty and inequality.’ Sustainability is indeed a crucial topic for Gwangju City.”

He continued, “Our Gwangju finds urban sustainability in inclusiveness,” and said, “We are all born through someone’s care and end our lives receiving someone’s care. Care is nurturing people and protecting people. In that sense, care is an investment for tomorrow.”

He also stated, “Gwangju’s sustainable future will begin with care, expand to integrated care, and be completed with care democracy,” emphasizing, “Going forward, Gwangju will build solidarity and engage in discussions with many cities worldwide to create a sustainable future together.”

On the following day, the 9th, he delivered the keynote speech at the World Mayors Forum, highlighting the inclusiveness of democratic Gwangju through the theme of the ‘Gwangju-style Integrated Care’ policy, which won the 6th International Urban Innovation Award, emphasizing the effects of building urban safety nets and communities.

In addition, Mayor Kang actively engaged in city diplomacy by fully demonstrating a city diplomacy strategy that shares Gwangju’s unique experiences and values through signing an agreement to strengthen exchange and cooperation with Guangzhou, a promotion day for tourism revitalization, receiving the International Urban Innovation Award, and meetings with the mayors of Bogot?, Colombia, and Darwin, Australia.

During the 8th term of the elected government, Gwangju City has been actively conducting city diplomacy through video conferences and meetings to establish a cooperative community foundation in AI, culture, arts, and sports with overseas sister and friendship cities such as Guangzhou, China, where exchanges had slowed due to COVID-19, as well as Leipzig and Nuremberg in Germany, and San Antonio in the United States.

Furthermore, exchanges have been further strengthened through sister and friendship cooperation agreements with Nghe An Province in Vietnam and Samarkand in Uzbekistan.

Mayor Kang Gi-jung of Gwangju said, “It is important to establish ‘relationships’ between cities by fully promoting Gwangju’s strengths in industry, culture, democracy, human rights, and peace,” adding, “Through abundant meetings both online and offline, we must export Gwangju’s companies, industries, and cultural arts to enhance city competitiveness, while jointly uniting to address global issues such as the climate crisis and solve problems faced by cities together.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.