Regional governments of Korea, China pledge environmental cooperation
Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon makes a congratulatory speech at the second Conference of South Korean and Chinese Provincial Governors and Metropolitan Mayors in Beijing, Tuesday. / Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Government
By Lee Suh-yoon
Regional governments of Korea and China pledged to cooperate on improving air quality and fighting global warming at the second Meeting of Governors of Provinces and regions between South Korea and China held in Beijing, Tuesday.
Though there have been one-on-one cooperative agreements between Korean and Chinese cities before, this is the first time such a pact was made between the representatives of regional governments of each country.
“The district governments of the two nations will intensify cooperation on environmental development. Together, they will achieve sustainable development, better air quality, and proper response to global warming in cooperation with each other,” the joint declaration read.
Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, who attended the meeting, represented seven Korean regional governments. His counterpart Li Xiao Lin, party secretary and chairperson of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, represented 10 regional governments in China, including Beijing.
“Korea and China have been longtime neighbors and friends through history, and have cemented a strategic cooperative partnership for 25 years since establishing diplomatic ties,” Park said in a speech. “Now municipalities of the countries need to work towards a practical realization of the cooperation, so the relationship can take one step forward.”
The first conference was held in 2016 in Songdo, Korea, and mainly focused on economic and cultural cooperation.
Since establishing diplomatic relations in 1992, Korea and China have initiated over 600 sister city treaties with each other.
The next meeting will be held in Korea in 2020.