During 2013, five activities were carried out within the Chinese-European Training on Regional Policy (CETREGIO) project.
The first activity was a two-week information session that took place in May/June 2013 in the United Kingdom (West Midlands) and Germany (Hamburg). It focused on integrated territorial rural-urban development. 17 Chinese delegates met regional policy makers at local and provincial level as well as civil society representatives. They also held meetings with representatives of the European Parliament, the European Commission and the Committee of the Regions in Brussels. Meetings and field visits in the West Midlands and Germany focused on the role of the business community for a balanced regional development between urban and rural areas. Several partnerships were presented and concrete working actions were identified to foster cooperation.
The second activity took place in China from 18 to 22 June 2013 and was conceived as a follow-up to the session in Europe. Four representatives from Germany, the UK and the Netherlands explored direct cooperation chances in integrated territorial development project in three cities of Guangxi province (Nanning, Beihai and Guilin). The Chinese delegation was composed of 20 regional-level officials and representatives of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) coming from 8 Chinese provinces. Including the European delegates, a total of 24 experts were involved in the training. It should be stated that all participants were senior experts in their areas and the majority had even decision-making competences on regional development issues in their provinces, regions or cities.
The third activity consisted of a one-week information session in Europe and took place from 08 to 15 October 2013. Training focused on regional innovation and territorial development and was designed for a Chinese delegation of 10 delegates from the public and private sector coming from two provinces (Beijing and Guangdong). The programme included field visits in selected urban and rural areas in Ireland as well as full-day workshops in Paris (OECD) and Brussels (EU-China High Level Seminar on Regional Policy).
The fourth activity took place in three European countries (Germany, Italy and Austria) from 04 to 13 November 2013 and involved 21 Chinese participants. The programme focused on regional innovation and its role within the EU Danube Strategy. Case studies were selected in accordance with its relevance for the Chinese reality as well as on the links established between regions during previous programme activities.
The fifth activity took place in three Chinese cities (Wuhan, Beijing and Tianjin) from 18 to 22 November 2013 in order to create synergies with the EU-China Sustainable Urbanisation Partnership Forum. In Wuhan, the programme involved 10 European experts from nine countries and 20 Chinese delegates from different cities of Hubei province. In Beijing, European delegates absolved field visits in the Chinese Technological Development Area (Beijing E-Town), meeting several business representatives. They also participated at the EU-China Sustainable Urbanisation Partnership Forum. In Tianjin, European delegates and five members of the European Commission’ DG REGIO visited the Tianjin Economic Development Area and met key decision makers of Tianjin city.
Further details can be obtained at the final report 2013: CETREGIO Final Report 2013