Global Mayors Dialogue took place in Qingdao
Under the theme "Wonderful Culture and Tourism, Shared by Sister Cities," Qingdao Mayor Ren Gang met with mayors and representatives from Minsk (Belarus), Preah Sihanouk (Cambodia), Regensburg (Germany), Piraeus (Greece), Shimonoseki (Japan), Dunedin (New Zealand), Lagos (Nigeria), and Daegu (South Korea) to explore opportunities for cultural and tourism cooperation. Vice mayors from the neighboring cities of Yantai and Weihai also attended the event by invitation.
Ren reviewed Qingdao's partnerships with its sister cities and the achievements made through international exchanges. He emphasized the importance of fully leveraging exchange mechanisms to deepen practical cooperation, expand people-to-people diplomacy, and make local-level engagement more distinctive and effective in contributing to stronger relations between nations.
Ioannis Moralis, mayor of Piraeus, highlighted the city's annual "Sea Days" celebration and said Piraeus is building an innovative and sustainable city based on three pillars — innovation, cooperation and digital integration.
Sok Phea, vice governor of Preah Sihanouk, noted that the province holds great potential in cruise tourism, eco-island development, community and cultural integration. "Let's work together to build a smart, green, inclusive and accessible future for marine tourism," he said.
Gertrud Maltz-Schwarzfischer, mayor of Regensburg, emphasized the role of integrated urban development in revitalizing historic districts. "We have successfully blended the old town of Regensburg — a UNESCO World Heritage Site — with the vibrant lives of the city's youth," she said.
Kukharev Vladimir, chairman of the Minsk City Executive Committee, called for stronger cooperation in the fields of culture and tourism. "This can not only drive economic growth, but also promote peace, friendship and inclusiveness among nations," he said.
Bimbola Salu-Hundeyin, secretary to the State Government of Lagos, expressed a willingness to cooperate with global cities on green economy innovation, blue economy growth, sustainable cultural and tourism development, creative industries, youth empowerment, and digitalization.
Park Gihwan, mayor's representative and director general of the Economic Bureau of Daegu Metropolitan City, said the city's Chimac (fried chicken and beer) Festival is one of its most iconic cultural events. He expressed hope for further exchanges with Qingdao, home to the world-renowned Qingdao International Beer Festival.
Shimazaki Toshiyuki, vice mayor of Shimonoseki, said the city would make full use of its rich culinary traditions and deep cultural heritage to develop more attractive tourism experiences.
Sandy Graham, CEO of the Dunedin City Council, highlighted the Lan Yuan — a classical Chinese garden in Dunedin — as a symbol of cultural diversity. "Dunedin is a city of charm where multiple cultures thrive together," she said.
At the conclusion of the event, mayors and guests from across the globe jointly issued a "Global Invitation for Culture and Tourism." The dialogue served not only as a platform for sharing insights and experiences, but also as a journey of friendship and cooperation — planting the seeds for deeper collaboration and a more prosperous future in cultural and tourism development.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Korea Herald
an hour ago
- Korea Herald
FLOW Digital Infrastructure Announces New Data Center in Central Tokyo
TOKYO, July 30, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- FLOW Digital Infrastructure ("FLOW"), the digital infrastructure platform of PAG, a leading Asia Pacific-focused alternative investment firm, announced that construction is underway for its new data center campus in Central Tokyo. The new data center consists of two buildings, named TK7 and TK8, with a combined IT load of 30MW. The first building - TK7 with 6MW IT load - targets to be ready for service in Q1 2027. Japan ranks among the largest tier 1 data center markets in Asia Pacific. Characterized by significant investment momentum and strong growth, the overall data center market in Japan is projected to expand at a 10.8% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) through 2027 [1]. The hyperscale colocation segment in Greater Tokyo is projected to grow at a five-year CAGR of 17% from 2024 [2], reinforcing Tokyo's key role in supporting large-scale, high-capacity data center infrastructure. Strategically located in Central Tokyo, in the vicinity of established data center clusters in Otemachi and Toyosu, the FLOW campus will be one of the largest colocation data center facilities supporting the digital ecosystem of the Greater Tokyo area. It will provide customers with flexible, scalable and state-of-the-art solutions designed to meet the increasing demands driven by Japan's accelerating digital economy and AI adoption. Sanjay Goel, CEO of FLOW, said: "This development marks a significant milestone in FLOW's expansion in Asia Pacific and underscores our commitment to Japan as a priority market. We look forward to serving hyperscalers and enterprises with capacity needs in the Central Tokyo area, offering solutions that address the market's longstanding supply constraints and demand complexities." With the addition of TK7 and TK8, FLOW's portfolio expands to eleven assets across Japan, Korea, Philippines and Malaysia with over 170MW of current and planned IT capacity.
Korea Herald
4 hours ago
- Korea Herald
LG Energy Solution wins $4.3b battery deal, likely with Tesla
Korean battery-maker gains edge as US tariffs squeeze China's CATL LG Energy Solution has secured a 5.9 trillion won ($4.3 billion) deal to supply lithium-iron phosphate battery cells, likely for Tesla's energy storage systems, solidifying its position as the only producer of these cost-effective batteries in the US. According to LG Energy Solution's regulatory filing on Wednesday, it will supply LFP cells for a global client for three years from Aug. 1, 2027, to July 31, 2030, with the possibility of extending the contract to 2034. This agreement represents 23 percent of last year's sales revenue of 25.6 trillion won, marking the company's largest ESS contract. Assuming a price range of $85 per cell, media reports project the total supply amounts to approximately 50 gigawatt-hours worth of cells. LG Energy Solution declined to share details of the deal, citing confidentiality, but industry sources anticipate that the company will be supplying batteries for Tesla's ESS products. LG Energy Solution is currently manufacturing LFP cells for ESS in its Michigan plant, targeting the US market. Meanwhile, its LFP battery products for electric vehicles, intended for Renault Group, are slated for production at its Wroclaw facility in Poland. During Tesla's conference call for the first quarter of this year, Travis Axelrod, head of investor relations at Tesla, said, 'The impact of tariffs on the energy business will be outsized since we source LFP battery cells from China. We are in the process of commissioning equipment for the local manufacturing of LFP battery cells in the US, however, the equipment that we have can only service a fraction of our total installed capacity.' 'We've also been working on securing additional supply chains from non-China-based suppliers, but it will take time.' In response to industry headwinds from US tariffs that restrict the use of batteries and battery components sourced from China, Tesla has accelerated construction of its LFP cell manufacturing plant for ESS in Nevada, with recent reports indicating the site is nearing completion. Given Tesla's strong business relationship with China's CATL for its ESS business, a key strategy has been to incorporate equipment and battery designs from the Chinese battery behemoth at its Nevada facility. However, Tesla has recognized the limitations in expanding its battery cell capacity to meet the rapidly growing ESS market in the US, fueled by artificial intelligence data centers and the demand for reliable electricity supply solutions. Lee Ho-geun, a car engineering professor at Daeduk University, noted, 'There may be a delay before Tesla ramps up its production capacity (at its Nevada plant). This potential production gap likely prompted Tesla to turn to LG Energy Solution, which seems to have offered competitive pricing compared to tariff-impacted Chinese companies, including CATL.' Chinese-made ESS batteries imported into the US are reported to face a 40.9 percent tariff, which is anticipated to rise to 58.4 percent next year. Korean battery-makers have been pushing for local production of ESS cells in the US to brush off the current 10 percent tariff impact, which is set to increase to 25 percent starting Friday. Industry insiders project that the price of a Chinese LFP battery cell targeting the US market will increase from $73 last year to $87 by 2026. As of June, LG Energy Solution has secured multiple contracts exceeding 50 GWh capacity, with key US clients including Delta Electronics, Excelsior Energy Capital, Terra-Gen and Hanwha Qcells. According to market tracker Global Market Insights, the US ESS market is expected to grow at an average annual rate of 13.4 percent, reaching $305.5 billion by 2034 from $78.9 billion last year.
Korea Herald
5 hours ago
- Korea Herald
China Southern Power Grid Showcases Multiple AI Achievements at 2025 World Artificial Intelligence Conference
SHANGHAI, July 30, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- From July 26 to 28, the 2025 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) convened in Shanghai under the theme "Global Solidarity in the AI Era." As a strategic partner of the event, China Southern Power Grid (CSG) unveiled an exhibition themed "Empowering Every kwh with AI" and hosted a forum focused on AI-driven innovation in the power sector. CSG also presented a range of AI-powered applications at the China AI Industry Innovation Exhibition, highlighting its latest initiatives to integrate AI into energy and power systems and support the growth of a smarter industrial ecosystem. In recent years, CSG embraced emerging technologies—particularly artificial intelligence—and achieved a number of breakthrough advances. These include strengthening its technological foundation, deploying a wide range of demonstration scenarios, and helping build an AI ecosystem within the power sector. These efforts have played a key role in building the New Energy System and the New Power System and serving the industry's transition to low-carbon and environmentally responsible operations. Looking ahead, CSG will continue to prioritize national strategic objectives, including the Digital China initiative and the broader energy transition. The company plans to deepen its research into AI technologies and expand their application across the energy sector, while strengthening collaboration across the industry value chain. Through these efforts, CSG aims to contribute Chinese solutions and expertise to the global digital and intelligent transformation of the energy industry, and to the long-term goals of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality.
