The 21st Century Maritime Silk Road Local Government Cooperation and International Friendship Cities Dialogue concluded on Oct 17 at the Fuzhou Strait International Conference and Exhibition Center, East China's Fujian province, with a series of cooperation agreements signed and the Fuzhou Initiative released.

Under the theme "Pooling Wisdom for Development Along the Maritime Silk Road, Strengthening Ties Among Friendship Cities for Shared Prosperity", the dialogue featured an opening ceremony and four panel discussions.

At the closing ceremony, Fuzhou signed memorandums of understanding to further friendly exchanges and cooperation with Brazil's Campinas, Guyana's Georgetown, and an action plan to deepen cooperation with Cambodia's Siem Reap. It also signed a letter of intent to establish a friendship city relationship with Agadir, Morocco.

Other agreements included a memorandum to establish friendly exchange relations between Fujian's Sanming and Poland's Sokolka county; a memorandum to strengthen friendship city cooperation between Fujian's Zhangzhou and Godollo, Hungary; and a memorandum of understanding between Fuzhou Port Group and Hambantota International Port Group.

The Fuzhou Initiative, a set of proposals for cooperation among local governments and friendship cities, outlines five areas of cooperation: multilateralism, marine cooperation, innovative partnership mechanisms, cultural exchanges, and long-term cooperation. It calls for stronger collaboration in port logistics, marine renewable energy, and modern fisheries, and supports Xiamen's bid to host the secretariat of the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement).