The 2019 Euro-China Green and Smart City Summit is being held in Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, from Sept 26 to 28. More than 300 participants are discussing issues related to smart cities and more than 20 cities have been rated as top green and smart cities.

Representatives of cities in China and the EU, along with experts, scholars, and enterprise leaders, are discussing the current development prospects of green and smart cities and ways to promote cooperation between governments and enterprises.

Jean-Pierre Raffarin, former prime minister of France and special envoy of the president of France to China, speaks at the 2019 Euro-China Green and Smart City Summit. [Photo by Yu Jing/chinanews.com]

Jean-Pierre Raffarin, former prime minister of France and special envoy of the president of France to China, said at the summit that building a green and smart city requires effort from all parties, and cooperation must be strengthened between cities and people, between the public and private sectors, and between countries from all over the world.

Building a green and smart city is seen as an important way to improve the quality of urbanization, create higher living standards, and achieve sustainable urban development.

Huang Qifan, vice chairman of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, stressed at the summit that when it comes to building smart cities, the government is mainly responsible for planning, guiding, integrating resources, releasing information, and setting up platforms.

"The government should introduce policies and measures to encourage all levels of society to participate in the construction of smart cities," added Huang.

The summit was supervised by the European Commission, sponsored by the China Center for Urban Development, the Foundation for Prospective & Innovation, the Nanning municipal people's government, and the Belt and Road International Think Tank of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Around 300 cities in 32 countries and regions, including China and a number of European countries, participated in evaluation and exhibition events at the past three summits.