The 7th Annual Forum on City Informatization in the Asia-Pacific Region was held at the the Shanghai International Convention Center on May 26th to May 27th. The Forum was co-sponsored by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations Human Settlements Program (UN-Habitat), the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), the Ministry of Information Industry of China, the Ministry of Science and Technology of China, the Ministry of Commerce of China, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Shanghai Municipal Government.

The theme, "Smart Use of ICT (Information and Communication Technology) for Better Cities" attracted over 300 participants from more than a hundred cities and over 30 international organizations. Attendees included well-known experts, entrepreneurs and government leaders such as the Under Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Sha Zukang; the Chairman of the United Nations Economic and Social Council, Mr. Leo Merores; the Deputy Mayor of Shanghai, Mr. Yang Xiong; the Chairman of the Internet Society of China and Academician, Ms. Hu Qiheng; and the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Information Industry of China, Mr. Yang Xueshan.

The Cooperation Office for City Informatization in the Asia-Pacific Region and the China Computer Users Association jointly issued the "2008 China's Top 50 Cities in Informatization" during the Forum. The list was made by assessing over 280 cities out of 600 cities that were invited to the event and, based on 26 standards covering six aspects (NOTE: Only 5 are named) of information infrastructure, (1) information resources development and utilization, (2) informatization environment, (3) the informatization level of local government, (4) the utilization levels of information technology, (5) and comprehensive evaluation of informatization. Government leaders of the cities awarded citations attended the press conference of the "2008 China's Top 50 Cities in Informatization". Attendees included the Deputy Director of Beijing Information Office, Li Hong; the Deputy Director of Shanghai Information Committee, Liu Jian; the Deputy Director of Guangzhou Information Office, Lin Shaomin; and the Deputy Director of the Wuhan Information Industry Bureau, among others.

The 2008 China's Top 50 Cities in Informatization are as follows:

Shanghai (No.1), Beijing (No.1), Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Qingdao, Wuhan, Suzhou, Ningbo, Tianjin, Hefei, Dalian, Xiamen, Chengdu, Shenyang, Chongqing, Nanjing, Yangzhou, Jinan, Nanning, Handan, Foshan, Weihai, Wenzhou, Dongying, Kunming, Guiyang, Shantou, Dongguan, Lianyungang, Nanchang, Jiujiang, Hengyang, Jincheng, Wuhai, Baotou, Mianyang, Xinyu, Panzhihua, Maoming, Weifang, Liaocheng, Huizhou, Anshan, Jiaozuo, Zunyi, Xianyang, Jiangyin, Kunshan and Danyang.

Editor: Yan