City vows to make local food a brand name

A new member of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network, Chengdu made an impressive debut at UNESCO Creative Cities Network 2010 Shenzhen International Conference, which was held on Dec. 6-9 in China's southeastern city of Shenzhen in Guangdong province.

Delegations from the 27 member cities of the Network around the world attended the conference, the third in sequence and the first held in China. The previous events were convened in Santa Fe, USA and Lyon, France in 2008 and 2009. Chengdu joined the UNESCO Creative Cities Network in March, 2010 and became a member in the category of gastronomy, along with Popay n, Colombia and stersund, Sweden respectively.

In the descriptions by UNESCO, Chengdu "is acknowledged for being the birthplace of many culinary traditions and is home to a vibrant community of gastronomic professionals who are actively promoting innovation in food and sustainable strategies for the development of quality culinary practices.

The presentation by the delegation of Chengdu at the event, especially the part about the city's plans to make the city a world-class culinary center, caused great attention of the attending cities. Chengdu municipal government is making a long-term plan with an aim to modernize and globalize the city's food industry and catering sector, said offi cials of local government.

The city is taking an active part in forming the Alliance of the Cities of Gastronomy and it is learnt that the delegations from Chengdu, Popay n and stersund have reached a preliminary agreement during the conference. The cities of Popay n and stersund have agreed to send delegations to Chengdu to attend the eighth International Food and Tour Festival, which is to be held in the city next year.

Local government officials explained that the Alliance will be an organization to provide offi cial and professional support for the development of the food industry of the member cities.

Source: Chengdu.gov.cn