On August 25 (Beijing time), the Secretariat of Asia-Pacific region of United Cites and Local Governments (UCLG) held the virtual Executive Bureau Meeting 2020, theming on “Getting to the new normal: the role of local government in building sustainable communities in a post-COVID-19 world”. Lasting for over four hours, this meeting had more than 100 attendees from over 50 cities and local government associations.

The UCLG ASPAC President Ms. Tri Rismaharini and Secretary General Dr. Bernadia Irawati Tjandradewi co-chaired this meeting. According to the agenda, minutes of the Executive Bureau Meeting in Makati in September 2019 were reviewed and adopted. Information about the COVID-19’s response and actions by members and the Secretariat were shared. Activity reports and work plans from President, Co-Presidents, Executive Bureau Members, UCLG ASPAC Committees, and Working Groups for the period of March to July 2019 as well as the preparation of the 8th UCLG ASPAC Congress to be held in Zhengzhou City were also listened to. Membership issues were discussed, with the membership application of Jayapura and Gorontalo approved. The development of 2020-2025 Manifesto were primarily discussed, while the Wellington Declaration were agreed upon.

Particularly, Mr. Wu Xiaojie, Executive Deputy Secretary General of 21st-Century Maritime Cooperation Committee and Director of Foreign Affairs Office of the Fuzhou Municipal People’s Government, introduced how Fuzhou assisted overseas counterparts to combat the epidemic and what the Committee plans to do next. He sincerely invited all parties to join in and achieve win-win cooperation.