As a move to mark the tenth anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) 
this year, the 2023 Mayors Exchange Conference on Maritime Silk Road City 
Influence will be held from November 24-25 in coastal city Wenzhou in east 
China's Zhejiang Province.

Through exchanges and interactions among Maritime Silk Road city municipal 
officials, experts and scholars from 13 foreign countries, the conference seeks 
to facilitate mutual learning and win-win cooperation in the region, according 
to the Executive Committee. 

Made up by a main session, five parallel sessions, and several special 
activities, the event will see the release of the "Maritime Silk Road Star City 
Index" and the list of the "Top 10 Influential Maritime Silk Road Cities 2023," 
and city branding and case studies by Maritime Silk Road city municipal 
officials. 

As a major activity of the conference, the Maritime Silk Road Star City Index 
will be launched to offer a scientific evaluation and comprehensive display of 
diversity of cities along the trade route. 

The index system is made up by 20 indicators that assess a city's global 
connectivity, trade network, culture legacy and international exchanges.

Municipal officials from well-known Maritime Silk Road cities such as China's 
Wenzhou, Maldives' Male, Italy's Castellamonte and Spain's Barcelona will 
attend the conference to display their cities' charm and share their cities' 
unique practices. An initiative to promote innovative development on Maritime 
Silk Road city cooperation will be released during the conference.

As an important hub along the Maritime Silk Road, Wenzhou is one of the first 
14 coastal cities in China to open to the outside world. The Shuomen Ancient 
Port site located in Wenzhou was selected as one of the top ten national 
archaeological discoveries in 2022, demonstrating the prosperity and continuity 
of the ancient trade route on the sea.

At the same time, Wenzhou's trade with the BRI countries increased from 53.33 
billion yuan in 2013 to 147.05 billion yuan in 2022.

"In the past decade, the Silk Road spirit of peace and cooperation, openness 
and inclusiveness, mutual learning and mutual benefit has been translated into 
realities, with more and more stories about the shared prosperity thanks to the 
BRI's practices on the sea," said Chen Yingxu, vice mayor of Wenzhou. "As 
members of the Maritime Silk Road, we are a community that share weal and woe," 
Chen said.

Source: Wenzhou Executive Committee of the 2023 Mayors Exchange Conference on 
Maritime Silk Road City Influence