On the afternoon of June 5th, the International Business Roundtable on Innovation and Green Development was held back-to-back with the National Annual Event for 2018 World Environment Day in Changsha, Hunan Province. The meeting was co-organized by China Council on International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED), the China-ASEAN Environmental Protection Cooperation Center, and the Hunan Environmental Protection Agency.

Mr. Chen Wenhao, Vice Governor of People’s Government of Hunan Province, Mr. Liu Shijin, CCICED Chinese Chief Advisor, Vice Chairman of China Development Research Foundation, Mr. Arthur Hanson, CCICED International Chief Advisor, and Mr. Tu Ruihe, China Country Representative of UN Environment attended the meeting and delivered opening remarks.

It is agreed on the meeting that, with the rapid development of metropolitan regions as well as small and medium-sized towns, it comes a significant urban agglomeration effect. Such effect has attracted a large number of people, especially young people, to move into cities. The new round of urbanization should abandon the traditional way of limitless expansion and take a new path of green urbanization. The concept of “Green is Gold” proposed by President Xi Jinping enjoys popular supports and has become a national strategy for development. Green development will provide new impetus in economic growth, innovation and consumption. In recent years, new changes have been brought to urbanization: strong demand for green consumption; green innovation, including a large number of new technologies and new products such as mobile payments, artificial intelligence and shared bicycles; and the vigorous development of green finance. These changes will create favorable conditions for green urbanization.

The meeting brought together Chinese and international guests to discuss on Policies and Trends on Innovation in Green Urbanization, Ecological Cities Partnership for Belt and Road Initiative, as well as Promoting Green Development through Green Finance.