On November 1, Guo Ningning, Deputy Secretary of the CPC Fujian Provincial Committee and Secretary of the Leading Party Members’ Group of Fujian Provincial People’s Government, met in Fuzhou with Anacláudia Rossbach, Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme(UN-Habitat), and her delegation. Zhao Zenglian, Member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Fujian Provincial Committee and Vice Governor of Fujian Province, attended the meeting.

Entrusted by Zhao Long, Secretary of the CPC Fujian Provincial Committee, Guo Ningning welcomed Rossbach and her delegation on their visit to Fujian on behalf of the CPC Fujian Provincial Committee and the People’s Government of Fujian Province, and gave a brief overview of Fujian's high-quality economic and social development. She noted that President Xi Jinping attaches great importance to urban work. In 2022, in a congratulatory letter to the Global Observance of World Cities Day, President Xi expressed the hope that cities around the world would actively participate in the Global Development Initiative and work together to promote global sustainable development, charting the course for further deepening practical cooperation. Currently, Fujian is intensifying efforts to build modern people-centered cities that are innovative, livable, beautiful, resilient, culturally vibrant and smart. UN-Habitat plays an important role in promoting global sustainable development and has long provided active support for Fujian’s urban development. Guo Ningning expressed the hope that both sides would further strengthen exchanges, enhance the role and effectiveness of cooperation platforms, deepen cooperation across diverse fields, and work together to build a closer global network of city partnerships, so that the fruits of urban development would better benefit people in all countries.

Rossbach noted that it was her first visit to Fujian and that she had been deeply impressed by the vibrant dynamism of its cities. She expressed the hope that, through platforms such as the Global Observance of World Cities Day and the the Global Award for Sustainable Development in Cities (Shanghai Award), UN-Habitat would strengthen exchanges and coordination with Fujian, deliver more cooperation outcomes, and work together to realize the beautiful vision of sustainable cities.