UN-HABITAT and the National Training Center For Mayors of China
(NTCMC) on Monday agreed to promote a training project on water
conservation and sanitation for mayors across China.
According to the agreement, UN-HABITAT will donate US$15,000 to
the program and the NTCMC will carry out assessments and identify
the training needed for mayors on water issues.
"We plan to give two training courses - one for domestic mayors
and one for other developing countries," said NTCMC Director Wang
Zhongping.
Wang said that China, together with other developing countries,
faced great challenges posed by urbanization, as a huge proportion
of the rural population continues to swarm into the cities putting
pressure on the urban environment and city management.
"We are in urgent need of this kind of program," he said.
The NTCMC, a government-sponsored institution, was founded in
1983 to give professional and internationalized training to the
Chinese mayors.
(Xinhua News Agency July 24, 2007)
