The third edition of the UNESCO Creative Cities Beijing Summit opened in Beijing on the afternoon of September 17th, 2020, combining both physical presence and online participation of representatives across the world. Zheng Fuzhi, China’s Vice Minister of Education, Chen Jining, Mayor of Beijing, and Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO gave addresses at the opening ceremony in video format.
Zheng stated in his speech that cities provided a broad venue for innovation and creativity, which in turn effectively promoted the sustainable development of cities. As proved in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, innovation and creativity are key to meeting challenges faced by cities. For innovation and creativity that are grounded on education, talent matters most. As the development of education is linked to a city’s future, the promotion of creative cities must build on the modernization of education. The Chinese government has always put high strategic priority on education and is accelerating the modernization and reform of education. One of the focus areas in the current wave of curriculum reform is stimulating curiosity and imagination as well as developing innovative culture and innovative competence in students, which will be implemented substantively throughout all stages from the design of courses and teaching materials, through teaching and learning to examinations and assessments. Such reform will be a strong source of momentum for the sustainable development of economy, society and cities.
Zheng said the Chinese government highly valued its cooperation with UNESCO, in particular the Sino-foreign partnerships built through this forum for global intellectual cooperation. China hopes that creative cities around the world will better leverage this cooperative platform and make joint efforts to develop themselves better, build a community with a shared future for mankind, and create a better world for all.
The third UNESCO Creative Cities Beijing Summit was convened by UNESCO in collaboration with the People’s Government of Beijing Municipality, the Ministry of Education of China, and the National Commission of the People’s Republic of China for UNESCO.
