Officials announce during an online meeting on Nov 4 that the 2021 Global Mayors' Forum, the 13th World Congress of the World Association of Metropolis and the fifth Guangzhou International Award for Urban Innovation will be held from Nov 8 to 13. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The 2021 Global Mayors' Forum, the 13th World Congress of the World Association of Metropolis and the fifth Guangzhou International Award for Urban Innovation will take place both online and on-site in Guangzhou from Nov 8 to 13. 

The events, co-organized by the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, Guangzhou municipal people's government, the World Organization of United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) and the World Metropolis Association, were postponed for one year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

As of Nov 3, 584 guests from 113 cities in 74 countries and nine international organizations as well as envoys from 27 consulates of foreign countries in Guangzhou will attend the conference online or offline. They will discuss topics such as public health, science and technology, new infrastructure, poverty reduction, climate change, improving urban resilience and carrying out urban renewal. 

A total of 24 conferences and activities will be held and 13 of them are based online.

The fifth Guangzhou International Award for Urban Innovation, also known as the Guangzhou Award, will be given to five cities among the 15 shortlisted cities all over the world. This year's Guangzhou Award received 273 submissions from 175 cities in 60 countries and regions despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 15 finalists for this year's Guangzhou Award have been released including Unley, Australia; Vienna, Austria; Sao Jose dos Pinhais, Brazil; Chongqing, China; Capital Resion, Denmark and Quito, Ecuador.

UCLG Secretary-General Emilia Saiz spoke highly of Guangzhou's act of integrating the Guangzhou Award with sustainable development goals as being groundbreaking. She added that it inspires people to build a more sustainable future.

"Global cities need to watch each other's backs and join hands to tackle various crises and challenges," added Deng Changxiong, deputy director of the foreign affairs office of Guangzhou municipal government.