President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker and China’s Premier Li Keqiang witnessed the signature of 12 new partnerships between Chinese and EU private and public entities in the field of urbanization. The signature ceremony took place on 13 July, on the sidelines of the EU-China Summit.

This third batch of partnerships signals a step forward in the implementation of the EU-China Sustainable Urbanization Partnership, launched at the highest level in 2012. Most of these partnerships involve EU companies specialized in the improvement of the urban environment, on the one hand, and Chinese local authorities who wish to rely on this expertise in their efforts to develop a more sustainable approach to urbanization, on the other.

The organization of this event reflects the EU’s strong commitment to support EU business in sectors related to urbanization (which are often SMEs) to access the Chinese market. This endeavor is carried out in close collaboration with EU member states: the Ambassadors of Sweden, Lars Fredén, and Italy, Ettore Francesco Sequi, as well as representatives of the Embassies of the Netherlands and Austria, attended the signing ceremony, according to the website of the Delegation of the European Union to China.