By Kay Scrimger
December 17, 2012

Conference of Mayors President Philadelphia Mayor Michael A. Nutter led a delegation to China in early December, visiting Philadelphia’s Sister City of Tiajiin and participating in a conference in Beijing that focused on sustainability in cities.

The mission’s goals were to raise the city’s international profile, promote opportunities for investment in Philadelphia, strengthen relations between key Philadelphia institutions and their Chinese counterparts, and promote Philadelphia as a growing international city. “Philadelphia is becoming known as one of the most sustainable cities in the whole world,” Nutter said. This trade mission “gave us an opportunity to tell our story.”

The mayor also played a key role in a two-day conference, held December 4-5 in Beijing on urban sustainability – “Cities of the Future,” organized by the Paulson Institute and chaired by former U.S. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson. Paulson invited the mayor to participate in the conference because of his leadership as President of the U.S. Conference of Mayors and as one of America’s leading mayors in sustainability strategies.

In his segment of the conference program, the mayor was interviewed by Fortune Magazine Editor Managing Andy Serwer.

While in Beijing, Nutter, Paulson, and the members of the delegation met with Wang Anshun, Acting Mayor of Beijing.

The delegation also traveled to Philadelphia’s Sister City of Tianjin, a metropolis of 13 million located 70 miles east of Beijing near the Bohai Sea. In terms of urban population, Tianjin is the fourth largest in China, after Shanghai, Beijing, and Guangzhou. Possessing the largest coastal opening in northern China, Tiajiin has successfully modernized its port and become one of China’s most important economic centers. Among the city projects that Nutter viewed was Tianjin’s successful reclamation of land from the Bohai Sea to accommodate 23 new cargo cranes to unload ships.

Nutter signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Tianjin’s mayor on mutual plans for expanding future city-to-city cooperation. While in the city, Nutter also met with top officials from Air China to press the company for non'stop service to the Philadelphia International Airport. “My job is to try to bring more jobs and opportunities to the city of Philadelphia, which clearly will have a positive impact on the city’s finances. The more people who are working, the more companies that we have here, the more we will improve our economic environment. It is a part of the job of the mayor.”