On the eve of the Chinese New Year, the International Mayors Communication Centre (IMCC) held exchange activities with the Hong Kong Association for External Friendship, the Tengchong Scientists Forum Center, and the Shanghai Public Relations Association to jointly promote the development of the “Global Mayors’ Reception Room.”

On February 3, 2026, Dr. Hugo Chan, head of international affairs of the Hong Kong Association for External Friendship, and Mr. Wingman Sze, vice president of the Shanghai Public Relations Association, visited the IMCC to discuss cooperation matters related to the “Global Mayors’ Reception Room” campaign.

Jin Lan (second from left), founder of the International Mayors Communication Centre (IMCC), vice chair of the Global Mayors’ Forum Council, and permanent secretary-general of the Global Mayors’ Forum Council, poses for a group photo with Dr. Hugo Chan (third from left), head of international affairs of the Hong Kong Association for External Friendship and co-chairman of the Global Legal Meet, Wingman Sze (first from left ), vice president of the Shanghai Public Relations Association, Jin Song (fourth from left), chairman of Zhongneng Xinkong Investment Development (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. and honorable patron of the “Open Green City Laboratory,” and Daniel Or (third from right), co-chairman of the Global Legal Meet. (Photo by Su Xiaoling)

On February 10, 2026, Mr. Wan Lin, vice director of the Tengchong Scientists Forum Center, led a delegation to visit the IMCC to discuss cooperation on the “Global Mayors’ Reception Room.”

The Tengchong Scientists Forum was jointly initiated by Academician Gu Binglin, former president of Tsinghua University, Academician Xu Zhihong, former president of Peking University, and Academician Rao Zihe, former president of Nankai University. It is co-sponsored by the People’s Government of Yunnan Province and the China Association for Science and Technology, and supported by Tsinghua University, Peking University, and Nankai University. The forum is held annually in Tengchong, Yunnan Province, China. With the theme of “Science and Technology Leading the Future,” the forum is committed to inheriting the spirit of the National Southwest Associated University, promoting the spirit of science and scientists, and building a platform for advanced academic exchange, a platform for interaction between government, industry, academia, and research, a platform for the commercialization of scientific and technological achievements, and a platform for scientific and technological cooperation between China and South and Southeast Asian countries. Its four editions from 2022 to 2025 attracted a total of 418 academicians from China and abroad, 216 university presidents, more than 1,700 experts and scholars, and more than 1,600 entrepreneurs and financiers.

During the 2022 Tengchong Scientists Forum, academicians Gu Binglin, Xu Zhihong, and Rao Zihe proposed the establishment of the Tengchong Science Awards, aiming to reward global scientists who have made significant breakthroughs in the forefront of science and technology, promoted significant progress in human scientific and technological advancements, solved major human problems and challenges through technological innovation, and achieved significant economic or social benefits through research outcomes.

The winners from 2023 to 2025 were Academician Lu Yuming, Professor Zhang Feng, Academician Xue Qikun, Academician Xie Xiaoliang, and Academician Pan Jiwei, each receiving a prize of 10 million yuan. In 2025, the Tengchong Outstanding Young Scientists Award was established, rewarding nine research talents under the age of 40. These initiatives have greatly encouraged the innovative enthusiasm of scientific workers.

Jin Lan (second from right), founder of the International Mayors Communication Centre (IMCC), vice chair of the Global Mayors’ Forum Council, and permanent secretary-general of the Global Mayors’ Forum Council, poses for a photo with Wan Lin (third from left), vice director of the Tengchong Scientists Forum Center, Jin Qiao (second from left), CEO of Green City, Cheng Zhangqun (first from right), assistant to the director of the Tengchong Scientists Forum Center and director of the Forum Development Department of the Tengchong Scientists Forum Center, and Deng Lingxiang (first from left), senior supervisor of the Forum Development Department of the Tengchong Scientists Forum Center.

On February 11, 2026, Jin Lan, founder of the IMCC, vice chair of the Global Mayors’ Forum Council, and permanent secretary-general of the Global Mayors’ Forum Council, visited the Hong Kong Association for External Friendship at the invitation of the association.

The Hong Kong Association for External Friendship was established on July 5, 2025, at the 33rd floor, The Henderson, 2 Murray Road, Central, Hong Kong. Its founding president, Professor Leung Mei-fun, is a deputy to the National People’s Congress (NPC) of China, a member of the Hong Kong Basic Law Committee under the NPC Standing Committee, and a member of the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Previously, she chaired the Legislative Council’s Panel on Administration of Justice and Legal Services and Panel on Education. She is an arbitrator, a barrister, as well as a law professor at the City University of Hong Kong. She is also chair of the Hong Kong Basic Law Education Association. With her outstanding prestige in the legal profession, she advocated for the establishment of the Hong Kong Association for External Friendship, which received support from the Central Government, the NPC, and the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries. Chief Executive John Lee serves as an honorable patron of the association and has led various departments of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in actively responding to support the association. The association has also received sponsorship from prominent businesses. This unprecedented achievement in the field of non-governmental organizations established after Hong Kong’s return to Chinese sovereignty fully demonstrates that the Hong Kong Association for External Friendship, under Professor Leung’s leadership, is in line with the trend, the favorable opportunity, and public opinion. It will undoubtedly play a significant role in people-to-people diplomacy, highlighting Hong Kong’s function as a super connector in people-to-people exchanges between China and other countries.

Professor Leung Mei-fun (second from left), deputy to the National People’s Congress (NPC),  member of the Hong Kong Basic Law Committee of the NPC Standing Committee, and founding president of the Hong Kong Association for External Friendship, poses for a photo with Jin Lan (second from right), founder of the International Mayors Communication Centre (IMCC), Daniel Or (first from left), co-chairman of the Global Legal Meet, and Dr. Hugo Chan (first from right), co-chairman of the Global Legal Meet and head of international affairs of the Hong Kong Association for External Friendship.

Ms. Leung Mei-fun (second from left) presents Ms. Jin Lan with a cultural and creative gift named “Wisdom” from the Hong Kong Association for External Friendship.

Ms. Leung Mei-fun (left) and Ms. Jin Lan each holds an auspicious Spring Festival sticker, with the words “One Country, Two Systems” and “Peace for the Nation and Families” respectively, wishing the country prosperity and the people peace in the Year of the Horse .

Jin’s primary objective during her visit to the Hong Kong Association for External Friendship was to explore how to leverage Hong Kong’s role as a model of Sino-Western cultural integration and particularly, given Hong Kong’s success in reshaping its geographical advantages through its financial power, how to collaborate with the Tengchong Scientists Forum, leveraging its influence in China’s science and technology as well as business communities, to jointly build the “Global Mayors’ Reception Room.” This project, guided by the goal of fostering cultural exchange and sustainable development among cities, will focus on areas such as financial innovation, artificial intelligence, green energy, international trade, biomedicine, and cultural tourism. It will select cities with complementary strengths, and each event will begin with dialogues between mayors, followed by guidance for inter-company cooperation.

The Global Mayors’ Forum was established on April 21, 2008, on the 16th floor of the International Mayors Communication Centre Building in Shenzhen by the International Mayors Communication Centre (IMCC), an NGO in special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), together with nine renowned international organizations and enterprises. A press conference was held on April 22, 2008, at the Conrad Hong Kong hotel.

The IMCC was established in Hong Kong in August 2005 and granted special consultative status by ECOSOC in July 2017. As an international organization nurtured by both Hong Kong and Shenzhen, the IMCC has been committed to promoting and implementing the UN’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and has established close interactive exchanges with mayors worldwide. The IMCC’s green media and e-monthly, “Dialogue to Global Mayors,” invited 4,812 foreign cities and selected 169 mayors to personally write articles on urban sustainable development.

From June 2018 to January 2025, spanning seven years, the IMCC, through the official WeChat account of its “Open Green City Laboratory” and the IMCC’s website, comprehensively and systematically promoted the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 specific targets of the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in both Chinese and English. Each of weekly promotional articles included four examples: two from China and two from other countries. As a result, the IMCC has accumulated rich resources in global sustainable development.

Building on this foundation, the IMCC has launched the “Global Mayors’ Reception Room” campaign. Emphasizing the sub-national function of “city diplomacy,” the project aims to break down diplomatic barriers between countries, promote the role of mayors as city CEOs, and empower them as ambassadors for their cities’ image. The event focuses on organizing mayors from various countries to lead their city’s entrepreneurs to participate in the “Global Mayors’ Reception Room.” Guided by the needs of urban development, the event will facilitate innovative projects, integrate high-quality resources, and incubate more cities capable of changing the global geoeconomic landscape, thus promoting global economic recovery. Its ultimate goal is to eradicate poverty, revitalize friendly partnerships between cities, and jointly build a peaceful, poetic human habitat and a shared blue planet for carbon-based life.