China and ASEAN decided to build new alliance among cities, a platform to promote environmental cooperation among governments, companies and social organizations, according to a seminar held on Tuesday in Beijing, China.

China has launched the project to promote regional cooperation on environmental protection with member states of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), based on efforts conducted in the past six years.

The new China – ASEAN Strategy on Environmental Cooperation (2016-2020) has been jointly formulated and developed in which ecologically friendly cities have been listed as a priority, said a report released by the China-ASEAN Environmental Cooperation Center.

The building of ecologically friendly cities has been considered a major solution to address problems of urban ecological and biodiversity conservation, the report said.

The officials and experts took part in a seminar which suggested China establish the eco-cities alliance to promote cooperation among cities in the region which allow more governments, companies and social organizations to participate.

The private sector, including enterprise, should be encouraged to play a bigger role in ecologically friendly urban development, the report suggested.