Mayors and senior officials from 25 cities around the world gathered in Beijing on Wednesday at the 2012 Beijing Forum on Sustainable Development of Cities.

The forum, held under the theme "Culture: the driving power of a city's sustainable development", will last three days and focuses mainly on the relationship between culture and the sustainability of cities.

The forum's participants, from 25 cities, including Washington, Budapest, Copenhagen and Venice, are expected to share experiences and explore feasible solutions for the sustainable development of cities.

Beijing Mayor Guo Jinlong, in his speech at the forum's opening ceremony, said it is of great practical and strategic importance to conduct in-depth discussion on the practices and theories of urban sustainable development, and to exchange and explore the experience and measures in urban innovation.

Liu Qi, Beijing Party secretary, announced the opening of the forum and pointed to the important role that culture has played in the city's development.

He added that Beijing, with its enriched cultural content, has already explored ways in which culture could fuel its sustainable development.

The forum will include four major events — a forum for city mayors, an entrepreneurs' forum, an urban culture exhibition and an arts festival.

Established in 2010, the forum is an international communication platform between Beijing and its sister cities. The sustainable development of cities is a permanent theme.