A delegation of Chinese officials met representatives of Europe's local and regional government at CEMR's office in Brussels, on 17 January 2006. The aim of the visit was to exchange views on governance and elections at village level in China.

 

The Chinese delegation included representatives from the ministries of Commerce and Civil Affairs, as well as from the EU-China training programme on village governance.

 

The secretary general of the Council of European Municipalities and Regions, Jeremy Smith, introduced the visitors to CEMR's role and activities both in Europe and on the world stage.

 

Representatives of European municipalities and regions, including Austria, the UK, Sweden, Poland, the Czech Republic, Estonia and Latvia heard about village self-governance mechanisms in China and the EU-China training programme on village governance. There are some 620,000 village communities in China.

 

The representatives of European municipalities sought more information on issues such as local elections, local democracy or gender equality at local level in China.

 

Both sides welcomed the meeting, especially since it helped establish contacts for future forms of bilateral cooperation between Chinese and European municipalities.

 

Not the first time!

 

This was the second meeting with Chinese representatives. On 12 September 2005, a delegation from the Chinese association of mayors visited CEMR in Brussels.

 

The delegation was led by the president of the Chinese Association of Mayors and Chinese Minister of Construction, Wang Guangtao; the aim of the visit was to explore the possibilities of future cooperation with the Council of European Municipalities and Regions, focusing on sustainable urban development.

 

The EU-China training programme

 

The EU-China training programme on village governance was launched in May 2001. It is a five-year inter-governmental project between the European Commission and the Chinese government.

 

Its main objectives are to develop long term cooperation between China and the EU, to enhance the understanding and observance of the law by Chinese villagers, their elected representatives and rural officials, to promote village self-governance.

 

Its three areas of work are institutional development, training and human resources development, and applied research.

 

More information on the EU China training programme on village governance