On June 25th local time, the 7th Guangzhou International City Innovation Award (referred to as the "Guangzhou Award") held a preliminary evaluation results release ceremony in Tangier, Morocco, announcing the list of 15 shortlisted urban innovation projects. The launch ceremony was included in the important agenda of the 2026 UCLG World Congress. Vice President of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, Lu Xiangdong, Deputy Mayor of Guangzhou, Hu Hao, Secretary General of the UCLG, Emilia Saez, Secretary General of the World Urban Land Organization, and Jordi Bakr, Secretary General of the World Urban Association, delivered speeches at the launch ceremony. Kobe Brand, Chairman of the 7th Guangzhou Award Technical Committee, introduced the evaluation of this award. Representatives from relevant cities and international organizations attending the World Urban Land Organization World Congress attended the launch ceremony.

The 7th Guangzhou Awards will launch its selection activities in September 2025, and ultimately received 381 applications for urban governance innovation projects from 248 cities in 60 countries. The number of participating cities and projects has reached a new high in history, covering multiple fields such as digital governance, artificial intelligence, green and low-carbon, climate resilience, social inclusion, and public services. Nine international experts from different countries and regions and different professional backgrounds formed the Technical Committee of the Seventh Guangzhou Award. Through the preliminary evaluation meeting, 15 shortlisted city projects were selected, including 15 cities and cities, including Bogota, Colombia, Bilejik, Türkiye, Istanbul, Türkiye, Hania, Netherlands, Kampala, Uganda, Mandaluyong, Argentina, Neuken, Russia, Tianjin, China, Qingdao, Rabat, Morocco, Sao Paulo, Brazil, Sin'an, South Korea, and Tarakanisi, Kenya. These shortlisted urban innovation projects will compete for 5 final award spots at this year's Guangzhou Awards. In addition, the technical committee has also selected 30 expert recommended urban innovation projects to further expand the exchange and sharing of excellent urban innovation experiences.

The guests attending the launch ceremony all believe that the Guangzhou Award has played an important role in promoting global urban exchanges and cooperation, promoting governance innovation experience sharing, and implementing the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development since its establishment 14 years ago. They look forward to further deepening international cooperation through the Guangzhou Award platform, promoting more cities to innovate and learn from each other, jointly addressing global urban development challenges, and contributing urban strength to building a community with a shared future for mankind and implementing global governance initiatives.

The Guangzhou Award was jointly established by the World Urban Organization, the Association of World Cities, and the city of Guangzhou in 2012, with the aim of encouraging innovative practices in global urban governance and promoting mutual learning and exchange of experiences in global urban governance. Since the seventh edition of the event, the Guangzhou Award has collected a total of 2016 innovative practice projects from 815 cities in 105 countries, becoming an important platform for promoting the implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals at the local level. In December of this year, the 2026 Global Mayors Forum and the 7th Guangzhou Awards series of events will be held in Guangzhou. At that time, the 5 final award-winning city innovation projects of this year's Guangzhou Awards will be announced and presented.