The aim of the six-day tour was to communicate the main points of sustainable urban development to the participants with the aid of reference projects and workshops. The focus throughout was on the topic of energy efficiency.

The first stop on the tour was Zurich, and a visit to a high-efficiency building belonging to the Swiss firm Zehnder. After this, the trip continued to Frankfurt, Dortmund, Magdeburg and Berlin. Here, the delegation visited modern production halls and reference projects – for example energy-efficient public institutions run by project partners, exchanged notes on experiences with green urban development with deputies of the dena model municipality of Magdeburg, and took part in the Robert Bosch Foundation's 'City makers' event.

Energy and climate protection in municipalities

The mayors came from the cities of Jilin, Jingzhou and Yinchuan. These cities have committed themselves to implementing dena's energy and climate protection management system. The main focus of this scheme lies on buildings, energy, transport, water and waste as well as comprehensive planning and organisation.

In the future, the innovative urban districts will serve as flagship projects to demonstrate how German solutions can be implemented in China. The aim of the project is to strengthen structures for sustainable, climate-friendly development processes in Chinese cities and administrations, improve the framework conditions for investments in technology aimed at improving efficiency, promote knowledge transfer in politics, industry and science, and position German companies and products on the Chinese market.

‘Eco-Cities in China’ is a cooperative project involving the Chinese and German Construction Ministries. dena played a leading role in organising the project on behalf of German and Chinese specialist institutions. The project's patrons are Dr Barbara Hendricks, the German Federal Construction Minister, and Chen Zhenggao, the Chinese Construction Minister. The project partners are the German companies WILO SE and Wacker Chemie AG.