Dear partners and friends worldwide for sustainable development,

As the New Year’s bells for 2026 ring out around the world, I sincerely extend my gratitude, respect, and best wishes to you!

As the New Year approaches, I send you and your family a New Year’s card for 2026, along with the new logo of the International Mayors Communication Centre (IMCC), which is set against the backdrop of the dawn of our blue planet, symbolizing the rising tide of a bright future for sustainable development.

Currently, we are in a time of profound geopolitical transformation, marked by lingering shadows of war and the impact of the digital wave. Cities are evolving from subordinate units of the state into autonomous geopolitical actors. The trend of economic power shifts is particularly pronounced, while the GDP of cities like New York and Shenzhen has surpassed that of some medium-sized countries, and the location of multinational corporations’ headquarters can even directly reshape the geographical landscape of global industrial chains. We also see typical examples of urban functional evolution. For example, the Dubai free zones are reshaping capital flow path between the Middle East and Asia through Islamic financial rules, cleverly circumventing international sanctions barriers; in the Sino-US rivalry, Hong Kong, with its unique “One Country, Two Systems” status, serves as a buffer zone in the economic competition between major powers; and large cities like San Francisco and Shanghai exhibits a strong resource-attracting effect, with talent, capital, technology, and information rapidly converging on these core cities.

Given the ever-growing strength of urban functions, the IMCC must uphold its mission “to convey culture and promote the sustainable development of cities worldwide,” uniting city decision-makers from diverse cultural and institutional backgrounds, continuing the “Dialogue with Global Mayors” roadmap, and promoting the sharing of urban civilization and technological progress achievements between city stakeholders in China and other countries. Our purpose is “to be a disseminator of global urban culture,” and we will continue to repay the trust placed in us by global mayors, promoting exchange and cooperation among cities worldwide in areas such as climate change response, carbon neutrality, green energy, and smart cities. We will also dedicate ourselves to promoting China’s experience in rural revitalization and poverty alleviation in the Global South, helping everyone enjoy a dignified life.

From 2018 to 2025, the IMCC systematically promoted the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and 169 targets of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development through electronic media in Chinese and English. In this massive and challenging undertaking, we compiled more than 1,000 sustainable development practices from around the world, providing valuable examples for countries worldwide.

Based on this, we were invited to participate in several events held by UN-Habitat from May to November 2025 to promote the “New Urban Agenda,” including the Global Stakeholder Forum, the first and second global stakeholder dialogues with the executive director, a launch meeting for the 13th World Urban Forum, and the write-shop in the preparation of the report on the implementation of the New Urban Agenda. We have also maintained close interaction with UN-Habitat senior management and global partners. As a founder of the IMCC, I was selected from 247 experts worldwide to join the 15-member Drafting Committee for the outcome document of the Global Stakeholder Forum. I made several recommendations for the development of UN-Habitat’s 2026-2029 Strategic Plan. Among them, my recommendations on revitalizing global partnerships, improving digital city governance capabilities, bridging intergenerational poverty caused by the digital divide, strengthening the leading role of local governments in the construction of urban public spaces, innovating green finance products, and establishing a global volunteer alliance were all adopted in the Global Stakeholder Forum Declaration to the UN-Habitat Assembly. Ms. Anacláudia Rossbach, UN under-secretary-general and UN-Habitat executive director, was moved to tears by our enthusiasm and contributions. Ms. Amanda (Mandy) Entrikin, co-chair of the Drafting Committee, wrote in her reply to me, “Thank you so much for your contributions and for your effort to ensure representation from your experience in Hong Kong and Shenzhen.”

At the UN’s 2025 High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development, Dr. Cai Bin, chief representative of the IMCC’s New York office, delivered an oral statement on behalf of me, reporting on our organization’s achievements and future plans, and expressing a firm commitment to working with global partners to advance sustainable development. Following the forum, the NGO Branch of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs sent a letter of appreciation to the IMCC.

On December 19, 2025, we welcomed a new generation of directors born in the 1980s and 1990s. We firmly believe that their vibrant innovative energy will better leverage the global wisdom of the Open Green City Laboratory to replicate and promote innovative urban economic and cultural products. Utilizing the resources and channels of our global network of 4,812 city members, we will optimize and design a variety of solutions for urban development. We will launch diversified “Green City Bonds,” partnering with multiple international financial institutions to provide low-interest loans for green energy and digital economy infrastructure construction in cities of developing countries; we will develop a “Digital-Friendly Cities” platform to promote people-to-people diplomacy between cities and empower the building of a community with a shared future for mankind through technology; we will collaborate with the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction to help war-torn regions rebuild sustainable cities; and we will launch “Pachauri Tea” as our first green beverage, leading 1.8 billion young people worldwide to practice green lifestyles and contributing to the “Protect Our Planet Movement” ( POP Movement ).

The year of 2026 is crucial for implementing UN-Habitat’s “New Urban Agenda,” and every step we take demonstrates “Local Action for Global Goals.” We will strive to cultivate the resilience of cities worldwide for shared development through the warmth of the Open Green City Laboratory.

Through mountains and rivers, we journey forward in pursuit of our dreams. The green seeds sown by the IMCC 20 years ago have grown into lush forests across five continents. May we, under the banner of the United Nations, jointly stride towards a future of prosperity, progress, peace, and sustainable development!

Founder of the International Mayors Communication Centre, an NGO in special consultative status with UN ECOSOC

December 31, 2025 in Hong Kong, China