The 13th Metropolis World Congress-Guangzhou: General Assembly is held on Nov 30 in Guangzhou. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Guangzhou was selected to chair the World Congress of Metropolis during the 13th Metropolis World Congress-Guangzhou: General Assembly held on Nov 30 in Guangzhou, which attracted representatives from 141 member cities of the World Congress of Metropolis online.

Lin Songtian, chairman of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC), said that the World Congress of Metropolis, being a global network of local governments, has made contributions to the global fight against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) by proposing the establishment of a health platform for cities around the world.

Wen Guohui, mayor of Guangzhou, noted that Guangzhou has taken an active role since it joined the World Congress of Metropolis in 1993 and has also set up the Guangzhou International Award for Urban Innovation.

Wen added that Guangzhou will continue to give full play to the World Congress of Metropolis for being an important international platform, pushing forward the development of global urban management on the basis of pursuing collaboration, participation, and common interests.

Guangzhou was elected as a board member of the World Congress of Metropolis in 1996 and has been a co-chair city since 2014.

The city has shared its anti-COVID-19 experience in 36 online international seminars, as well as donated anti-COVID-19 pandemic supplies to 63 cities in 47 countries around the world.