Analysis of Cooperation Between Chinese and European Cities Along Belt and Road Initiative

Cities are the focal point and primary driver of global economic activity, and also the backbone of China-EU collaboration. Nowadays, cooperation between Chinese and European cities can achieve complementary advantages and reciprocal benefits, enhancing urban resilience, while injecting more stability and predictability into the volatile and ever-changing global economy. Now, the cooperation between Chinese and European cities along the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) also faces challenges: the international situation is complex and volatile; the coordination mechanism between local cities in China and Europe has not been fully established; the level of urbanization along the route varies greatly and the agglomeration effect of the city system is low; the local characteristics of cities participating in international cooperation are not obvious; and the local characteristics of cities participating in international cooperation are not obvious. In the future, cities along BRI in China and Europe should collaborate to address challenges, enhance the adaptive capacity and resilience of cities through resilience innovation, strengthen the top-level design of China-Europe city cooperation, play the role of “pillar” cities on both sides, “leading with a point to surface” to find the right direction for cities to participate in the construction of BRI, promote the growth of China-Europe city cooperation in the domains of economy, trade, and science across numerous levels, fields, and forms.