On November 7, The Paulson Institute and the China Center for International Economic Exchanges (CCIEE) awarded the first Paulson Prize for Cities of the Future to the Nanhu Country Village project in Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province. In a ceremony that evening at the Park Hyatt in Beijing, Henry M. Paulson, Jr., Chairman of the Paulson Institute, and Xu Kuangdi, Adviser for CCIEE and Vice Chairman of the 10th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, presented the award to Zhao Shumei, Vice Mayor of Jiaxing. Former Mayor of Chicago and Jury Committee Chairman Richard Daley announced the winner.
The Paulson Prize will be awarded annually to a municipal-level sustainability project in China that offers a creative and effective solution to promoting sound ecological development. “This prize provides an incentive for developing innovative, sustainable solutions and promotes collaboration between China and the US,” said Paulson. He added, “It is about encouraging leaders – economic, political, and otherwise, to push for practical solutions to real challenges.”
Nanhu Country Village was chosen by a jury of experts on urbanization and sustainability, including Daley; Lu Mai, Secretary-General of the China Development Research Foundation; Yi Jun, Chairman, China State Construction; Huang Nubo, Chairman, Beijing Zhongkun Investment Group; Hal Harvey, CEO, Energy Innovation; Zhuang Weimin, Dean of the School of Architecture at Tsinghua University; and James Hexter, Director, McKinsey.
Of the project, Huang stated, “The Nanhu Country Village approaches rural development and the effects of urbanization in a new way by actively implementing modern, sustainable technologies to promote energy efficiency while allowing for the village to be commercially successful. This project is an excellent example of what cities and villages everywhere can do to have a positive impact on our collective economic growth and development.”
