[Commentary] On July 19, the 2022 Shanghai Taipei City Forum with the theme of "Resilience and Sustainable Humanities" was held in the form of video.
Shanghai Mayor Gong Zheng and Taipei Mayor Ko Wenzhe attended the opening ceremony of the forum and delivered speeches at the Shanghai and Taipei venues respectively.
Wu Qing, Executive Deputy Mayor of Shanghai, and Peng Zhensheng, Deputy Mayor of Taipei gave keynote speeches.
Gong Zheng said that the "Twin Cities Forum" is an important platform for Shanghai and Taipei to work together, as well as a bridge for exchanges and mutual learning between the two cities.
The theme of this forum exchange contains the beautiful vision of the people of the two places for future urban construction, which will further deepen mutual understanding and build more consensus.
The compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are bound by their hearts and feelings, and any force will continue to cut them apart.
We will uphold the concept of "one family on both sides of the strait", and will, as always, create a favorable environment for Taiwanese companies to invest and start businesses in Shanghai, and provide more convenience for Taiwanese compatriots to study, work, start a business and live in Shanghai.
Looking forward to the two places walking together, working together, seeking development for the two cities, increasing the well-being of the compatriots, and creating a future for the nation.
Ko Wenzhe said that Taipei and Shanghai have held the "Twin Cities Forum" 13 times in a row. This process represents our insistence on cross-strait peace, and the two sides have also achieved many concrete results.
The two sides of the strait share similar history and culture, and have close economic and trade relations. The two sides should cooperate to create a win-win situation, communicate to resolve differences, and build guardrails to manage and control crises.
I believe that more exchanges can accumulate goodwill, and more goodwill can promote better exchanges, establish a cycle of goodness, and seek peace for both sides of the strait and the well-being of the people.
At the opening ceremony, the relevant units of the two cities signed a memorandum of cooperation on the exchange of experience in circular economy, Go sports, and smart transportation.
The two cities also jointly released the commemorative booklet "Shanghai Taipei City Forum Looking Back" produced by the Shanghai Municipal Government, and Jina reviewed the previous "Twin Cities Forum" and the exchange highlights of the two cities in various fields.
Since 2010, Shanghai and Taipei have held the "Twin Cities Forum" in turn to discuss people's livelihood concerns, share urban management experience, and carry out cultural exchanges and interactions, which have achieved positive and fruitful results.
Looking at the development process of the "Twin Cities Forum" in the past 13 years, Sheng Jiuyuan, director of the Taiwan Research Center of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, believes that it is the best embodiment of cross-strait exchanges that benefit people's livelihood.
[Concurrent] Sheng Jiuyuan, director of the Taiwan Research Center of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences
Why this forum can continue and get support from all sides? In the end, it has always revolved around people's livelihood, serving people's livelihood, and paying attention to people's livelihood. It has really solved many practical problems of people's livelihood in the two cities.
In the future, I think as long as the people's livelihood needs of the two cities still exist, and the officials of the two cities still hope that this forum can be held, then this forum must have its significance and value, and it has also become a very important part of cross-strait exchanges. Highlights, promote the continuous deepening of cross-strait exchanges, I think this is the meaning of it.
Reporter Miao Lu Xu Yinkang Yuzhan reported from Shanghai
Responsible editor: [Fang Jialiang]