On May 13, 2025, the establishment and strategic cooperation signing ceremony of the Guangxi-Hong Kong Nature-Based Urban & Rural Development Research Centre took place in Nanning, Guangxi, China. The Guangxi Urban-Rural Planning and Design Institute (GXUPDI), Huazhong Lianchuang Design Consultants (Hengqin) Co., Ltd. (Huazhong Lianchuang), and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement. Mr. Yang Lüfeng, Party Secretary and Director of the DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN-RURAL DEVELOPMENT OF GUANGXI ZHUANG AUTONOMOUS REGION, attended the ceremony and delivered a speech.
Yang Lüfeng pointed out that this signing is a vivid practice of deeply implementing Xi Jinping's thoughts on ecological civilization and actively serving the "dual carbon" strategy. It is also an important measure to deepen cooperation between China and ASEAN, as well as in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, promoting high-quality development in regional urban-rural development. This initiative will inject new vitality into Guangxi's urban-rural development and provide a model for cooperation between China and ASEAN countries in areas such as ecological cities and smart development.
Yang Lüfeng emphasized the importance of focusing on the core concept of "nature-based solutions" and intensifying efforts in areas such as artificial intelligence development in the industry, the construction of “good-quality housing”, resilient and smart livable cities, and green buildings, to provide technical support for urban-rural development across the region. He urged leveraging Guangxi's ecological advantages to continuously enhance the integration of industry, academia, and research, thereby improving the livability of urban-rural areas.
Furthermore, he highlighted the need to utilize the international platform of PolyU and the resource advantages of Huazhong Lianchuang in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and ASEAN countries. This includes actively establishing channels for exchange and cooperation in urban-rural development between China and ASEAN, and cultivating a group of professionals with both international vision and local commitment. Additionally, he called for the promotion of more technologies, standards, and projects to create a new model of regional cooperation, contributing to the building of a closer China-ASEAN community with a shared future.
PolyU, GXUPDI, and Huazhong Lianchuang stated that they will engage in comprehensive and multi-level cooperation in key areas such as rural revitalization, urban renewal, smart development, urban-rural integration, and fire safety inspections. They aim to explore nature-based urban & rural development models and pathways more suited to local development, working together to promote high-quality development in housing and urban-rural development.
Officials from the DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN-RURAL DEVELOPMENT OF GUANGXI ZHUANG AUTONOMOUS REGION, the Foreign Affairs Office of the Autonomous Region, the Guangxi Overseas Chinese Federation, Guangxi University, the Legislative Council of the Macao Special Administrative Region, and PolyU participated in the event.
Online coverage (Chinese only):
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/puUaE2vabteo-NVnhyeHQw
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/0Rpj7C72IQJbgKyaMxZIdQ
