Chairman Zeng Peiyan’s Welcoming Speech at the International Eco-city Forum

September 28^th, 2010

Distinguished guests and friends,

The Traditional Chinese Mid-Autumn has just passed and we will soon celebrate the 61^st National Day. At this time, we come to the beautiful harbor—Binhai, Tianjin, to create fine blueprint for the future development of eco-city, which is truly meaningful. On behalf of China Center for International Economic Exchanges (CCIEE), I would like to extend my warmest welcome to all of you! 

City is not only a major settlement for human, but also a center of economic, political, technological and cultural activities. Since The Industrial Revolution more than 200 years ago, the rapid urbanization has created great fortune for mankind. Meanwhile, environmental damage is a high price to pay for city’s development. In the 1970s, the concept of eco-city was proposed and put into practice in the Man and Biosphere (MAB) project, which was initiated by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Today, pursuing naturalization, culturalization and ecologicalization has become a new trend of city construction, and promoting the harmony between mankind and nature represents a new tide of city’s development. Regarding the question, “what kind of eco-city should we build?”, there is rich domestic and international experience which deserves further study and discussion. And I believe that is why we are having this forum here.

In the post-crisis era, building eco-city is very important for realizing green recovery. Developing green economy and promoting green recovery will not only save energy and reduce emission, but also make the use of resources more efficient, expand market demand and create more jobs. Thus it is a crucial combination of environmental protection and economic development. In other words, greening the economy is not a burden but an engine to the economic growth. The construction of eco-city needs certain investment, which will provide impetus to the development of infrastructure and some fundamental industries. Moreover, it can also drive the development of low-carbon, energy-saving and recycling economy. Generally speaking, all eco-cities are supposed to have favorable environment. Such invaluable intangible assets will exert immeasurable influence on attracting talents, bringing investments and boosting economic development. Therefore, the construction of eco-city, which is now promoting the economic recovery, has become a major concern of the international community and a new trend in the aspect of global environment and development.

Building eco-city is also a vital move of putting the concept of people-oriented development into practice. Being a settlement for human beings is the city’s first priority. Compared with traditional city, eco-city is more suitable for habitation as it creates a “Green Life” for us by using more green space and communities. Besides, it satisfies our needs for work, self-development, spiritual values and good health by applying low-emission industrial model, beautiful landscape, good cultural environment and convenient public transportation. Nonetheless, such developing concept neither means we should place ourselves above nature, nor means we should take self-interest, utilitarianism and hedonism as our attitude towards life. What it really means is that the concept of “mankind and nature to live in harmony” should be the precondition for the development of city and we should make proper plans for ecological pattern, industrial development, architectural layout, and population size in order to achieve high production, affluent living and good eco-environment.

The Sino-Singapore Eco-city is a useful exploration for realizing sustainable development. China is at the stage of fast-paced urbanization and industrialization. China’s economy will maintain its development at a relatively high speed in the following decades. Most of the cities are facing the tasks of dealing with the increasing population, expanding city’s size and transforming the old city proper. The past experience has shown that only the path of sustainable development could enable a city to provide the public with high-quality life and generate continuous vitality for development. Adhering to the concept of scientific development, the Tianjin Sino-Singapore Eco-city, with full support from the Chinese and the Singaporean governments, has committed itself to establish a new city model where human beings and nature are living in harmony. This is a concrete measure adopted by the Tianjin Municipal Government when dealing with the climate change. I believe that this project will accumulate experience for eco-city construction both domestically and internationally, and set an example to other regions in regard to the balance of urban and rural development. As a non-governmental think tank, CCIEE will work with you to contribute more wisdom to the construction of international eco-cities and to make greater efforts to the world sustainable development.

Finally, I would like to thank Tianjin Municipal Government for all the efforts they have made to host this forum. I wish the forum a great success. And I wish all the guests a good time in Tianjin. Thanks you.