Themed “Design Boosts Flourishing,” the 2025 World Design Cities Conference opened on Thursday in east China’s Shanghai.
Jointly hosted by the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government and UNESCO, the event aims to establish a global platform for design innovation and cooperation, while exploring design-driven new quality productive forces.
In his address at the opening ceremony, Gong Zheng, mayor of Shanghai, reflected on Shanghai’s achievements since becoming a member of UNESCO’s “Creative Cities Network” in 2010.
He highlighted that over the past 15 years, “Shanghai Design” has contributed wisdom and strength through creativity, innovation and originality, supporting the city’s development. He emphasized that Shanghai is accelerating its efforts to become a world-class, modern, socialist international metropolis with global influence.
“We aim to better leverage the empowering role of design across various industries, further enhance the originality and influence of ‘Shanghai Design’ and speed up the construction of a world-class design capital,” said Gong, adding that this will support the establishment of a modern industrial system, strengthen the city’s cultural soft power and create a model for the best practices of a people-centered city.
Xing Bo, vice president of China Media Group (CMG), said that CMG, the world’s largest comprehensive media group, is committed to exploring the limitless possibilities of empowering communication through design, brightening lives, and gaining insights into the future.
“The beauty of design allows us to reshape communication through innovation, illuminate life with culture, and chart the future with technology,” Xing noted.
She added that CMG is eager to join hands with Shanghai and the global design community to create a new vision in which design empowers high-quality development, enriches lifestyles and enhances effective governance.
Shanghai has been continuously promoting the integration of design into industries, urban renewal and public services. The city’s design sector now exceeds 1.6 trillion yuan (about $224 billion) in scale, offering valuable experiences and solutions that can serve as a reference for the global “Creative Cities Network.”
