Nearly one hundred world mayors will gather in Beijing next week to discuss crisis management and disaster prevention.

The participants will also discus the role of local governments in achieving the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) at the World Mayors' Forum and the 2005 Council Meting of the World Organization of United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) scheduled from June 8 to 10.

It has been the first time for UCLG, the largest world organization of local governments, which was founded in May 2004, to convene its world council meeting and theme forum in China.

"The responsibilities of local governments are to bring benefit to the public and give service to development, which are increasingly highlighted in the new century. Therefore, it's necessary for world mayors to often exchange experiences and seek common growth," Chen Haosu, president of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC), told a news conference Friday.

The annual council meeting and the forum, hosted by CPAFFC, are expected to attract approximately 400 representatives from 38 countries including China, the United States, France, Russia, the Netherlands, Romania, Indonesia and Turkey, said Ji Bin, secretary- general of the meeting and the forum.

By then, nearly one hundred mayors or vice mayors from cities such as Washington, Paris, Lyon, St. Petersburg, the Hague, Banda Aceh, Istanbul and China's Beijing, Tianjin, Guangzhou, Chongqing, Shenyang and Lanzhou will meet in Beijing for an open discussions, Ji said.

UCLG has more than 1,000 member cities in more than 120 countries, representing about half the population of the world.

UCLG is a conglomeration of three world organizations of cities and local governments, the International Union of Local Authorities (IULA) founded in 1913, the United Towns Organization (UTO) founded in 1957, and the Metropolis founded in 1986.

CPAFFC joined the IULA in 1999 on behalf of Chinese local governments at all levels and Chen Haosu is currently World Vice President of the UCLG and also Asia-Pacific President of the UCLG.

The UCLG Council is the organization's policy-making body that is composed of 318 local government representatives. The Council Meeting is held every year and hosted by member countries in turn.

"Because all the member countries have strong interests in China's development, so they choose China's Beijing as the venue for the second annual Council Meeting," Chen said.

Source: Xinhua