The following is a backgrounder of cooperation between China and the United Nations Center for Human Settlements (UNCHS), which was established in 1978, then renamed in 2001 as the UN Human Settlement Program (UN-HABITAT).

From 1993-1998, China attended, as an observer, all the annual commission conferences of the UNCHS.

In 1998, China was admitted a state member of the UNCHS.

In 1990, China established its official Representative Office in the UNCHS headquarters in Nairobi, the capital city of Kenya.

In August 1991, UNCHS established its Beijing Information Office with China's Construction Ministry.

In October 1999, The World Habitat Day, a global ceremony, was successfully held in China's Dalian city.

In October 2000, the "International Conference on the 21st Century City Construction and Environment" was held in China's southwest city of Chengdu.

The conference, co-hosted by UNCHS, China's Construction Ministry and Chengdu's municipal government, was UNCHS' first exchange meeting on global best human habitat models, and it adopted a Chengdu Declaration.

Also in October 2000, Leshan City in southwest China's Sichuan Province took part (the first Chinese city ever), in the Urban Governance Program which was sponsored by UNCHS, the World Bank, and a range of other organizations.

In 2001, Weifang, a city in east China's Shandong Province, took part in a UNCHS Small Town Solid Garbage Disposal Program and introduced simple, easy-management, low-cost environmental technologies for garbage disposal.

In August 2002, the "International Conference on Housing Development for Mid-and-low incomers" was held in Baotou, a northern China city in the Inner-Mongolia Autonomous Region. The conference focused on measures to resolve the funding problems for housing lower-income citizens in developing countries.

In 2003, Nanjing, the capital city of southeast China's Jiangsu province, was defined as an experimental city for an Asian city water program, which involves helping six Asian cities to improve their water environment governance. The program, which costs about 500 million U.S. dollars, was sponsored by UN-HABITAT, the Asia Development Bank and the Netherlands government.

In November 2003, Weihai, another city of Shandong Province, hosted the "International Conference on Strategy for Sustainable Urbanization." China briefed the conference on its principles, policy and achievements in the development of its urbanization. The conference also discussed the experiences and challenges UN-HABITAT members faced on their urbanization processes.

In November 2005, China's Construction Ministry, UN-HABITAT and the European Union (EU) co-chaired an international conference on urban sustainable development in Nan-ning, the capital city of China's southern Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

The conference, mainly focused on sustainable land exploitation and planning, housing development, and urban governance. The participants also looked at the research achievements of UN-HABITAT and the EU as well as China's experience in urban development.

In April 2006, at the invitation of Anna Tibaijuka (the Executive Director of UN-HABITAT who is also the UN Under Secretary-General), and China's Construction Minister Wang Guangtao, heading a Chinese delegation, attended the African Ministerial Conference on Housing and Urban Development held in Nairobi.

Next June, a Chinese governmental delegation will attend UN-HABITAT's Third Global City Forum scheduled to be held in Vancouver, Canada. As China's Nanjing city will host the fourth forum in 2008, the meeting in Vancouver will hold a handing over ceremony as well as an exhibition of China's achievements in human habitat.