The Board of Directors meeting of the World Association of the Major Metropolises (Metropolis) was held in Bogota, the capital city of Colombia, Guo Yonghang, mayor of Guangzhou, delivered a speech during the meeting on July 14.

Jordi Vaquer, the secretary-general of the association, presided over the meeting. Representatives from the 32 board-member cities attended the meeting online and onsite.

At the meeting, Bogota was elected to lead the Metropolis, with Guangzhou handing over its alternate presidency to Bogoda. Guangzhou was chosen to be one of the co-presidents of the association to continue working for Metropolis.

"Guangzhou cherishes the multilateral cooperation platform provided by Metropolis," said Guo Yonghang, when addressing the conference via video.

According to Guo, Guangzhou will continue to cooperate with Metropolis, playing an active role to promote sustainable development and construct shared governance worldwide, so that a community with a shared future for mankind can be built as soon as possible.

Guangzhou's performance in fulfilling its duty with its presidency of Metropolis during the COVID-19 pandemic was highly praised by the board of directors, which also expressed hope that Guangzhou could continue its efforts in boosting global city governance innovation in the future.

The Metropolis is an international organization facing major cities around the world, committed to improving their metropolitan governance. Founded in 1985, it currently has 143 member cities from 59 countries. The once-a-year Board of Directors meeting is one of the most important statutory meetings of the association.