Guangzhou gears up for World Cities Day

Guangdong province is expected to expand Sino-foreign exchanges in urban construction and management and adopt advanced practices during World Cities Day next month.

A series of events have been planned in Guangzhou, the provincial capital, to mark the day, which falls on Oct 31.

Li Yongjie, chief planner for the Guangdong Housing and Urban-Rural Development Department, said Sino-foreign cooperation benefits both sides.

Guangzhou's Nansha district, which sits at the mouth of the Pearl River, was largely unaffected by Typhoon Hato last month thanks to a major coastal dam.

"Construction of the super dam was the result of studying successful experiences from the Netherlands," Li said on Wednesday.

Li Liping, a senior official with the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, said more than 400 senior officials, mayors, professors and scholars from around the world, the UN and international organizations will attend the celebrations on Oct 31. 

The World Cities Day theme this year is "Innovative Governance and Open Cities".

Shanghai hosted the first annual World Cities Day celebrations in 2014, followed by Milan in Italy and then Ecuador's Quito.

According to statistics from UN Human Settlements Programme, more than 50 percent of the world's population live in cities. The figure is expected to reach more than 66 percent in 2050. 

In China, the population of urban residents surpassed those in the countryside in 2011.