On June 6, the first session of the Mayors Dialogue on Governance was held at Fudan University. The forum was jointly organized by the School of International Relations and Public Affairs (SIRPA), Fudan University, and the Fudan MPA Education Center. As the opening session of the series, the forum focused on urban governance and local development. It brought together Chinese and international guests, including SHEN Qiang, secretary of the CPC Jingjiang Municipal Committee, Taizhou City, Jiangsu Province, China, Sakpichai Khunsri, mayor of Lak Hok Sub-district, Pathum Thani Province, Thailand, and Nares Pantaratorn, vice president for Research, Rangsit University. Participants exchanged views on regional urban development, the building of sustainable and livable communities, and university-local government collaboration in governance. The discussions explored innovative practices in city-level governance, shared local development experience, and promoted mutual learning between Chinese and international approaches to local governance.
Promoting Governance through Dialogue: Building a Platform for Urban Governance Exchange
Cities are important units of national governance and concrete windows through which to observe development transformation, public services, and social coordination. Cities in different countries and of different sizes face varying challenges. Yet they also share common governance concerns in areas such as shared development, public security, industrial upgrading, public services, ecological environment, and community resilience. The first session was moderated by JIANG Changjian, associate professor at the School of International Relations and Public Affairs, Fudan University.
In his welcome address, CHEN Yan, assistant to the President of Fudan University and executive vice dean of the Graduate School noted that urban governance is both an important topic in public administration and a concrete manifestation of global governance at the local level. In the face of rapidly changing economic and social conditions, cities need to develop more coordinated governance capacities across development quality, livelihood protection, public services, and social participation. Fudan University has long paid close attention to national governance, urban governance, and international exchange and cooperation. Through the Mayors Dialogue on Governance, the university hopes to promote mutual inspiration and learning between Chinese and international experiences in local governance.
CHEN Yan, assistant to the President of Fudan University and executive vice dean of the Graduate School,
delivering his welcome address
In his remarks, SU Changhe, DEAN of the School of International Relations and Public Affairs, Fudan University, said that “when counties and prefectures are well governed, the country enjoys peace,” and that “governance need not follow the same model, as long as it benefits the people.” He noted that the exchange and mutual learning of governance knowledge is an emerging academic field in today’s world. The Mayors Dialogue on Governance is an initiative through which SIRPA leverages its international networks to build a platform for Chinese and international mayors to exchange experiences and insights on local governance and urban development. The forum aims to bring first-hand local governance practices from different paths of modernization into university classrooms and academic discussions, enabling faculty and students to understand governance issues through real-world comparative cases, while also providing a new platform for exchanges among local governments in China and abroad.
SU Changhe, dean of the School of International Relations and Public Affairs, Fudan University, delivering his address
Learning from Governance Practice: Two Cities in Dialogue
During the keynote session, SHEN Qiang delivered a speech titled“Satellite Manufacturing Hub, Yangtze River Gateway Port, and Destination for Quality Living: Practices in County-Level Urban Development and Governance Guided by the Yangtze River Delta Integration Strategy”. He shared Jingjiang’s experience in advancing development and governance in the context of regional integration. He noted that Jingjiang is located within the Shanghai metropolitan area and is home to China’s largest private shipbuilding base, with its annual shipbuilding completion volume accounting for roughly one-tenth of the global total. Drawing on its strengths in manufacturing, Jingjiang has actively integrated itself into the modern industrial system of the Yangtze River Delta, with Shanghai as the leading hub. It has explored a tailored development model featuring “established enterprises + emerging sectors + strategic partners”, aiming to build a world-class marine engineering and shipbuilding industry and to develop advanced equipment manufacturing that meets the needs of artificial intelligence, the “dual carbon” strategy, and the global expansion of manufacturing.
“Jingjiang has grown along the Yangtze River and developed around its riverfront advantages, striving to serve as a pivotal hub amid the convergence of multiple national strategies,” Shen said. He noted that Jingjiang is strengthening its port system for two-way opening-up, focusing on the north-to-south transport of grain, the movement of imported grain inland, the transshipment of key minerals between river and sea transport, and the development of industrial clusters and overseas-oriented manufacturing bases. Through the construction of cross-river transport links involving railways, highways, bridges, and tunnels, Jingjiang is integrating more deeply into the Yangtze River Delta’s coordinated transport system. At the same time, it is shouldering its responsibility for the protection of the Yangtze River through industrial upgrading, shoreline restoration, and biodiversity conservation, while shaping a distinctive riverside landscape as a port city. Shen emphasized that the development and governance of a city must ultimately return to people. By promoting the integration of industry and innovation, improving talent services, and enhancing public services, Jingjiang is strengthening residents’ sense of belonging and the city’s attractiveness, making urban governance more resilient and more humane, and further highlighting the city’s character of “Jing Shan Jing Mei” — a city of kindness and beauty.
SHEN Qiang, secretary of the CPC Jingjiang Municipal Committee,Taizhou City, Jiangsu Province , delivering his keynote speech
Subsequently, Nares Pantaratorn delivered remarks on “University–Community Partnership and Well-being Development”. Drawing on the cooperation between the Lak Hok Sub-district Municipality and Rangsit University, he pointed out that sustainable community well-being requires cross-sector collaboration. He noted that universities should not remain confined to classrooms and laboratories, but can also serve as important engines of social innovation. Many community issues may appear small, yet they can inspire governance innovations with lasting impact.
Nares Pantaratorn, vice president for Research, Rangsit University, Thailand, delivering his remarks
Sakpichai Khunsri delivered a keynote speech titled “Lak Hok: A Sustainable Livable City”. Lak Hok Sub-district is a grassroots local administrative organization in Thailand. It has abundant educational resources, with 12 educational institutions within its jurisdiction, including higher education institutions, public schools, private schools, and municipal child development centers. Its tourism resources are characterized by waterfront community culture and religious culture, while its local economy is mainly composed of private enterprises, retail businesses, and catering services. Facing challenges such as high population density in peri-urban communities, increasing domestic waste, and growing pressure on environmental governance, Lak Hok Sub-district has set the building of a “sustainable and livable city” as its governance goal.
Sakpichai Khunsri, mayor of Lak Hok Sub-district, Pathum Thani Province, Thailand, delivering his keynote speech
“We believe that urban development should not be limited to infrastructure construction; more importantly, it should serve people’s happiness and well-being,” Sakpichai Khunsri said. He introduced Lak Hok’s efforts to advance municipal development and community governance in seven areas: infrastructure development, public health and ecological environment, safety and security, education and sports, social security and elderly welfare, smart municipal governance, and the building of an integrated cooperation network with Rangsit University. The construction of a livable city involves not only improvements to roads, facilities, and public spaces, but also the enhancement of residents’ health, community safety, educational resources, elderly welfare, and grassroots participation. Lak Hok Sub-district attaches importance to the coordinating role of local government, while also drawing on the professional resources of institutions such as Rangsit University. In doing so, it seeks to move community governance beyond a single model of administrative management toward diversified cooperation among government, universities, communities, and social forces.
Bridging Governance: Building a New Platform for Local Governance Exchange between China and the World
During the dialogue session, SHEN Qiang and Sakpichai Khunsri exchanged views on the experiences and challenges of local governance in China and Thailand. The session was moderated by JIANG Changjian.
Sakpichai Khunsri first raised questions about China’s experience in development governance, fiscal management, and livelihood-related governance. Drawing on Jingjiang’s practice, SHEN Qiang responded that local governance must first proceed from reality and adapt to local conditions. When coordinating fiscal budgets, urban planning, and project arrangements, local governments should be guided by planning and supported by concrete projects, ensuring that limited resources are used for matters that conform to development logic, meet actual needs, and respond to public expectations. Speaking about social and livelihood governance, Shen said that it is necessary to give full play to the role of government while also mobilizing social forces and volunteers. Local governance, in the final analysis, is for the people and relies on the people. The key lies in building a high degree of mutual trust between the government and the public. Only by seeking truth from facts and ensuring that public concerns are heard and addressed can governance form a smoother and more stable pattern of interaction while responding to people’s expectations through the resolution of concrete problems.
The guest dialogue
SHEN Qiang then asked Mayor Sakpichai Khunsri about metropolitan coordination and university-local government cooperation. Sakpichai Khunsri said that Lak Hok Sub-district is located adjacent to Bangkok. It benefits from opportunities brought by metropolitan development, while also needing to respond to pressures arising from population mobility, public services, and community management. For peri-urban cities, the key is to identify their own position within the spillover effects of the core city and to translate locational advantages into more convenient infrastructure, more stable community services, and more dynamic local development. On university-local government cooperation, he noted that many problems in local governance are not necessarily grand in scale, but they require continuous observation, long-term engagement, and careful solutions. The relationship between universities and local governments should not remain limited to one-off projects or short-term activities. Instead, more stable interactions can be developed in areas such as youth practice, community research, and public service improvement. Looking ahead, the two sides can continue exchanges around these specific scenarios, enabling university-local cooperation to move from experience sharing toward more sustained governance practice.
During the interactive exchange session, students raised questions to the guests based on their academic backgrounds and front-line work experience. The topics included investment attraction, workplace safety, city branding, and community governance.
“I would like to ask what localized measures Thai cities have developed in refined urban governance and territorial services for migrant populations. What practical insights can these experiences offer for front-line subdistricts in China to improve grassroots governance and promote cross-city learning?” asked MO Benjie, a 2025 MPA student who works in grassroots community governance at a grassroots subdistrict in Shanghai. Drawing on the situation in Lak Hok Sub-district, Sakpichai Khunsri responded that Lak Hok brings together different groups, including university students, migrant workers, and local residents. Local governance should first uphold the principle of equal treatment. In the allocation of public resources, the provision of community services, and daily management, efforts should be made to accommodate the practical needs of different groups as much as possible, so that migrant populations can also feel accepted and supported by the community.
Students putting questions to the guests
GU Meng, also a 2025 MPA student, referred to how the “Suchao” (Jiangsu City Football League) in Taizhou has drawn wider attention to the city, and asked how cities can continue to explore their distinctive features and promote mutual reinforcement between urban cultural communication and economic development. SHEN Qiang summarized the key to urban culture and tourism development with the phrase “above the landscape is life”. He noted that a truly vital city brand cannot remain at the level of short-term popularity. Instead, it must return to the everyday life and cultural texture of the city itself, so that urban communication can move from “being seen” to “being remembered”.
Through face-to-face exchange and comparison, the first “Mayors Dialogue on Governance” forum not only deepened understanding of each side’s governance practices, but also offered useful insights for exploring more inclusive and sustainable pathways of urban development. The forum focused on the practical experience of local governments in urban development, while also emphasizing the role of diverse actors such as universities, social organizations, and community residents in governance. It aims to build an urban governance exchange platform that is practice-oriented, comparative in perspective, and future-facing.
Going forward, the “Mayors Dialogue on Governance” forum will continue to engage with urban governance practices in China and abroad. Together with more practitioners, participants, and researchers from the field of urban governance, it will promote comparison and mutual inspiration between China’s local urban governance experience and governance cases from around the world. With cities as the medium and governance as the theme, the forum will continue to facilitate the flow of local governance knowledge and the sharing of practical experience between China and the world, providing a more open space of exchange for cultivating public governance talent with international vision and practical commitment.
Source: School of International Relations and Public Affairs
