On the afternoon of June 29 local time, Premier Li Keqiang and President Jean-Claude Juncker of the European Commission jointly attended and addressed the China-EU Urbanization Partnership Forum 2015 in Brussels.

Li Keqiang said that the practice of human development indicates that industrialization and urbanization are “twin brothers” of modernization. Over the past 30 years, with the rapid development of industrialization, China’s urbanization has gained great achievements with the urbanization rate rising from 17.92% in 1978 to 54.77% in 2014.

Li Keqiang pointed out that there are still many problems in China’s urbanization. The solution is to take the way of people-oriented new-style urbanization, building more inclusive and harmonious cities. At present, we need to resolve “three 100-million-people tasks” in particular, that is, to enable the 100 million migrant farmer workers to settle down in cities and become real city residents by 2020; to accelerate the urbanization process of the central and western regions, guiding 100 million farmers to enter the nearby towns and cities voluntarily; to concentrate on rebuilding the run-town areas and unsafe buildings in cities to solve the housing problem for 100 million people. The solution of the “three 100-million-people tasks” will vigorously increase social labor productivity and promote the all-round development of the people to drive all sorts of consumption and investment demands. It will not only provide an everlasting source of power for China’s economic growth and modernization construction, but also provide new opportunities and expand new spaces for China-EU mutually beneficial cooperation.

Li Keqiang stressed that China is pushing forward the largest urbanization process in the history of mankind. The European urbanization has gone through several hundred years and gathered rich experience which is worth learning for China. 12 city partnerships and over 130 joint projects have been forged under the China-EU urbanization partnership. Standing at a new starting point, both sides need to ride on the momentum and take more practical actions.

First, deepen cooperation of smart cities. The application of new technologies such as the Internet of Things, cloud computing and big data has made modern cities “smart”. China and the EU should strengthen exchanges and mutual learning in aspects such as the planning and design of smart cities, research and development of core technologies and promotion of standard applications to advance informatization of city management, intellectualization of infrastructure, facilitation of public service and refinement of social governance.

Second, strengthen cooperation in energy saving and environmental protection. China has proposed that it will peak its carbon dioxide emissions around 2030 and try to reach the peak as soon as possible, and the proportion of non-fossil energy in primary energy consumption will be around 20%, which put forward higher requirements on its development of urbanization. Europe leads the world in fields such as the application of low-carbon technology, nearly zero emissions of buildings and sewage and garbage disposal. China welcomes the EU to actively participate in China’s construction of low-carbon cities and low-carbon industrial parks, energy-saving reconstruction of existing buildings, sewage and garbage disposal and clean energy development. China is also willing to work with the EU to jointly develop the third-party market in the field of energy saving and environmental protection equipment.

Third, promote public services and cooperation in public services. With the rapid development and upgrading of new-type urbanization in China, the level of China’s demands for medium and high grade consumer goods and equality of basic public services is improving. The EU countries boast a high level of development in education, medical treatment, leisure and fashion industries, and China welcomes European enterprises to expand the market. China has certain comparative advantages in the infrastructure field, and hopes Europe could provide more convenience for Chinese enterprises to participate in its city upgrading and renovation.

Li Keqiang said that remembering the past, bearing today and creating the future, the city is not only a huge stage of economic growth and wealth creation, but also a pioneer of social progress and cultural communication. China is willing to work with the EU institutions, European countries and relevant cities to continuously expand exchanges and cooperation in various fields, write a new chapter of future China-EU cooperation in urbanization and jointly construct a poetic dwelling place.

Jean-Claude Juncker said that Premier Li Keqiang’s speech charts the course for EU-China cooperation in urbanization. The EU and China need to cope with common challenge but also face huge cooperative opportunities in the field of urbanization. The EU admires China’s achievements in urbanization construction, and is willing to exchange experience and communicate with China and become China’s important partner in this field.

On the same day, Li Keqiang also attended the second China-EU Innovation Cooperation Dialogue and took group photos with main representatives.