Representatives attend the City Image Building Under the Belt and Road Initiative forum during the third 21st Century Maritime Silk Road China (Guangdong) International Communication Forum held in Zhuhai, Guangdong province. Photo Provided To China Daily

The third 21st Century Maritime Silk Road China (Guangdong) International Communication Forum became a valuable platform for the host city to learn from experts how to build up its city image.

Held in this coastal city of Zhuhai in South China's Guangdong province from Oct 21 to 23, the event attracted more than 300 government officials, consular officers, experts, entrepreneurs and media representatives from around the world.

Many of them shared what impression the city had left on them and what Zhuhai needs to gear up efforts to promote the city farther and wider during the forum.

Among them are Warren Mok, a tenor and opera performer whose ancestral roots are in Zhuhai, and John Hedin, an American editor who used to work in Zhuhai for a long time.

"I've been to Zhuhai for numerous times and I've witnessed its changes," said Mok.

"Zhuhai is an ideal city for living as well as for doing business. I really love the city as it is never too crowded, noisy, nor messy; and I think Zhuhai is the perfect place for the international communication forum."

Mok, offspring of a Hong Kong businessman from Zhuhai's Huitong village, is now one of the best-known tenors in the world and a top three in China.

Basing his viewpoint on his profession and understanding of the city, he suggested that Zhuhai should pay greater effort to developing its cultural industry as culture is one of the important indicators to measure the degree of development of a city.

"Zhuhai already has two opera houses and should establish a symphony orchestra and annually organize music festivals and vocal music competitions to help improve the city's cultural prowess and build the city into a tourism city for culture," he said.