Two metropolises seek common ground through city dialogue By MINGMEI Li in New York | chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2026-07-02 07:52 The Our Water Season III: Shanghai-New York City Dialogue launched in New York Bloomberg Tower on Tuesday. Under the theme "Rivers of Opportunities", the forum brought together government representatives, business leaders, financial institutions, consumer brands and cultural figures to explore new opportunities for China-US cooperation, with a special focus on financial and consumer industry collaboration between the two cities. Michael Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg L.P. and Bloomberg Philanthropies, said Shanghai and New York share many defining characteristics as waterfront cities and global centers of commerce and culture. Bloomberg, whose company has operated in Shanghai for more than three decades and who visited China in 2025, said exchanges between cities are more important than ever. "Now the conversation has arrived, and another great waterfront city, and that's something New York shares in common with Shanghai," he said. The former New York mayor said New York and Shanghai are both cultural, commercial and culinary capitals. "Great cities just don't compete with each other. They learn from each other. That kind of exchange between cities has never been more important," he said. Bloomberg noted that more than half of the world's population now lives in cities, placing urban governments at the forefront of addressing challenges ranging from public health and education to housing and climate change. "We borrow ideas from other cities, and we're glad the other cities borrowed from us," he added. Tang Zhiwen, minister at the Chinese Embassy in the United States, said exchanges between Shanghai and New York have become vivid examples of how China and the US can pursue mutual success through cooperation. He said the two cities could take the lead in emerging fields including artificial intelligence, climate