During the closing of the II China-Spain Mayors' Dialogue, Garcia Albiol stressed the need to leverage the presence of over 300 Chinese companies in the Badalona Sud industrial park to generate new investment and cooperation opportunities between the two countries.
Badalona is participating in this institutional meeting, organized by the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and the Cátedra China Foundation, as part of a delegation of 19 Spanish municipalities. The event brings together nearly 40 Chinese and Spanish cities.
The mayor presented Badalona as an example of a relationship with China that already has a direct impact on the city's economic activity, noting that the Badalona Sud industrial park is the second largest in Spain in terms of Chinese company concentration.
Garcia Albiol indicated that this significant business presence gives Badalona a privileged position to deepen ties, transforming institutional relationships into concrete opportunities for citizens and businesses.
Another focus of the intervention was the role of artificial intelligence in urban transformation, emphasizing that it is already a reality modifying the design, management, and delivery of municipal services.
The mayor highlighted artificial intelligence as an area offering enormous cooperation opportunities between Chinese and Spanish cities, arguing that differences in size or organization present opportunities for mutual learning.
Garcia Albiol advocated for greater prominence of local governments in international cooperation, asserting that global challenges have direct consequences at the city level and that local collaboration spaces must be leveraged.
The objective of these meetings, he stated, should be for dialogue to lead to concrete opportunities and projects, turning initial conversations into tangible realities.
The deputy mayor, Cristina Agüera, presented Badalona's new integrated video surveillance and urban analysis network, an investment of approximately 27 million euros with 615 cameras, as an example of technological application to enhance security and smart city management.
