On April 29, Ambassador Liu Yantao attended the Cyprus  Forum Cities 2025 and delivered a keynote speech. The event was also attended by Mayor of Limassol Yiannis Armeftis, Vice Rector of Cyprus University of Technology Nicolas Tsapatsoulis and other government officials, academics, and business representatives.

Ambassador Liu illustrated China’s urban modernization path through four stories: Changchun’s pursuit of innovation-driven development and building of a diversified industrial cluster; Guangzhou’s solution to the “garbage siege” through a circular economy industrial park; Hangzhou’s construction of a smart city to enhance governance efficiency; and the China-Cyprus Sister City Alliance, which fosters bilateral cooperation and people-to-people connectivity. He emphasized that China’s path to urban modernization is a journey of innovation-driven transformation, green development, technological empowerment, and open cooperation.

Ambassador Liu also called on countries to uphold multilateralism, oppose unilateralism and bullying, and jointly safeguard the world economic order. He stated that China is willing to leverage sister city cooperation as a bridge and join hands with other countries to build a community with a shared future for mankind.

The speech was met with an enthusiastic response, with participants speaking highly of China’s achievements in urban governance and development.