
Ald. Stone Represented Chicago In China
(Chicago). Alderman and Vice Mayor Bernard L. Stone represented the City of Chicago at the Third High Level Forum of the World Mega Cities Development, in Nantong, Peoples Republic of China. The forum brought together leaders from more than twenty-two (22) cities and seventeen (17) countries to discuss the importance of cultural understanding and communication.
From the discussions and exchange of ideas emerged the Nantong Declaration which expressed the participants’ commitment to fostering cultural exchange and understanding as an important step toward collective economic progress. In the first speech by a delegate, Alderman Stone echoed the theme of the Forum when he asserted, “Each day the world grows smaller as communications and technology advance....It is my hope that, as we begin this 21st century, it will be a century of understanding between people and cultures which will benefit all mankind.”
Upon his return from the Forum, Alderman Stone reflected on the experience, “China represents perhaps the world’s most important emerging market,’ he stated, ‘understanding and appreciating our differences while embracing our similarities is the first step in positioning ourselves to take advantage of this economic and trading opportunity.”
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Alderman Stone presenting the Mayor of Nantong,
China with a flag of the City of Chicago.