On Tuesday, the third iteration of the groundbreaking ‘Our Water Season’ initiative, the Shanghai-New York City Dialogue, opened its doors at Bloomberg’s iconic Manhattan headquarters, gathering cross-sector leaders from two of the world’s most influential global metropolises to advance pragmatic cooperation and people-to-people connection between China and the United States.
Centered on the overarching theme ‘Rivers of Opportunities’, the forum brought together a diverse cohort of participants: government officials from both nations, top business executives, leaders of global financial institutions, major consumer brand representatives, and prominent cultural figures. Attendees focused their discussions on unlocking untapped collaborative potential across China-US relations, with targeted attention to deepening partnership between the two cities in the financial and consumer sectors.
Michael Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg L.P. and Bloomberg Philanthropies, and a former mayor of New York City, opened with remarks highlighting the deep shared characteristics that bind the two waterfront metropolises. Both Shanghai and New York hold global status as leading commercial and cultural hubs, a common identity that forms a strong foundation for exchange, he noted. With Bloomberg L.P. maintaining a thriving presence in Shanghai for more than 30 years, and following his own visit to China in 2025, Bloomberg emphasized that city-to-city engagement has never carried greater weight than it does in today’s fractured geopolitical climate.
‘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 told attendees. Bloomberg added that with more than half of the global population now residing in urban areas, municipal governments are on the front lines of tackling shared global challenges, from public health infrastructure and education access to affordable housing and climate change adaptation. ‘We borrow ideas from other cities, and we’re glad the other cities borrowed from us,’ he said.
Tang Zhiwen, Minister at the Chinese Embassy in the United States, framed the ongoing exchange between Shanghai and New York as a powerful model for what constructive China-US cooperation can achieve. Tang noted that the two cities are well-positioned to take the lead in driving collaboration across high-growth emerging sectors, including artificial intelligence, climate action, green shipping, and smart city development, while paving the way for deeper high-level exchanges across the two entire nations.
Tang also highlighted the ongoing progress of China’s youth exchange initiative, which aims to welcome 50,000 young Americans to China over a five-year period. To date, Shanghai alone has hosted nearly 10,000 young American visitors through the program, building lasting people-to-people ties between the two countries.
Chen Yiqun, Director-General of the Information Office of Shanghai Municipality, echoed the forum’s water-centered framing, noting that river and coastal waterways have connected both cities to global markets and cultures for centuries, and continue to shape their future trajectories. ‘Water once carried both of our cities into the world. And now, water is asking something new of us: how do we keep our harbors and our waterfronts alive, open and growing for the next generation,’ she said. ‘Our Water exists to give cities like ours a place to compare notes, to learn from each other, and to keep growing together.’
Chen added that the ‘Our Water’ initiative was specifically created to provide a sustained, open platform for cities to share best practices, exchange insights, and collaborate to solve shared urban challenges. ‘When we talk today about finance, investment, consumption and innovation, we’re not just talking about growth for growth’s sake. We’re talking about what it takes to keep a city open, adaptable and full of opportunity for the people who call it home,’ she said.
Beyond plenary remarks, the forum featured a high-profile fireside chat titled ‘Seeking Common Ground through Dialogues’, bringing together Tsinghua University international relations professor Da Wei and Bloomberg Economics Chief Economist Tom Orlik to discuss China-US economic ties and opportunities for collaboration amid growing global economic and geopolitical uncertainty. Orlik, who lived and worked in China for multiple years, told China Daily that his time in the country deepened his understanding of China and underscored how critical people-to-people connections are to bridging divides. ‘Connections are really important for understanding,’ he said. ‘Both sides have more work to do to make it easier and more welcoming for those kinds of exchanges to take place.’
One of the forum’s most anticipated speakers was Yao Ming, NBA Hall of Famer, chairman of the Yao Foundation, and one of the most recognizable cultural bridges between China and the United States. Yao noted that sports have long served as a universal language that connects people across cultural and national boundaries. He highlighted a coincidental milestone for both cities this year: the New York Knicks claimed the 2026 NBA championship, while the Shanghai Sharks, which Yao led to their first CBA title in 2002, won this year’s Chinese Basketball Association championship.
Reflecting on his decades of cross-border experience, including his years playing in the NBA, Yao said splitting his time between Shanghai and regular travel across the United States transformed his perspective on cross-cultural exchange. ‘I try to learn from other people and make sure that becomes part of me,’ he said. ‘I learned so much from all the people I met and all the cities I visited.’ Yao also noted that Shanghai has grown into a top global destination for major international sporting events, including Formula One, a shift that reflects the city’s enduring openness, dynamic youthful energy, and deep cultural roots.