The foreign affairs office of Guangzhou municipal government held a press conference on July 24 to introduce the city's innovative practices in enlarging its circle of international friends and building itself into a hub for international exchange.

The conference focused on overall requirements, key tasks, and supporting measures and looked at relevant practices and plans such as the city's efforts to enlarge its sister cities group.

Lei Weiju, deputy director of Guangzhou's foreign affairs office and the spokesperson for the conference, addressed existing guidelines and goals for international exchange. He pointed out that Guangzhou's foreign affairs work should focus on five distinctive advantages including the CPC's unified leadership over foreign affairs, Guangzhou's geographical location, its exhibition brand and its cooperation with high-end platforms such as the World Economic Forum, the Boao Forum for Asia, and the Fortune Global Forum.

The conference also highlighted promotion of the Guangzhou International Award for Urban Innovation (Guangzhou Award) brand and Guangzhou's efforts in developing friendly relationships with international cities and a new pattern of all-around opening-up. The spokesman noted that this year the Guangzhou government will develop a long-term mechanism to transform achievements and inspirations drawn from the Guangzhou Award into concrete improvements in global urban governance.

According to the conference, Guangzhou's foreign affairs office will deepen cooperation with think tanks and universities, and establish an inspection mechanism for assessment and evaluation in implementing a three-year plan to become an international exchanges hub.

Lei Weiju (R), deputy director of Guangzhou's foreign affairs office, speaks at the press conference on July 24. [Photo/china.com.cn]