The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and east China's Ningbo city on Friday signed a cooperative framework agreement regarding the promotion of sustainable development.

The agreement will cover a wide range of fields, including social governance and oceanic management, which are expected to contribute to Ningbo's sustainable development.

The agreement marks the UNDP's first attempt to work with municipal authorities after years of cooperating with the state-level government, according to Gu Qing, UNDP's program manager.

The first project will involve supporting social management innovation in rural areas by giving full play to social service functions and creating more channels for orderly public participation.

The project will see the establishment of a participatory, comprehensive cooperative organization in a selected rural township to strengthen public service provision and community governance through a public-private partnership.

Ningbo's civil affairs bureau will provide support for the project.

In addition, a conceptual and practical assessment framework will be created to guide, evaluate and compare social governance reforms in Ningbo and other regions within and outside China.

Ningbo Yinzhou Bank Welfare Foundation has agreed to provide 2 million US dollars to fund the campaign.

In many parts of China, policies are usually implemented in a top-down manner as the governments pour in funds and solely administer the operation, leaving residents as passive recipients. People sometimes become unsatisfied and complain of defects in government-ran schemes.

However, by relying more on public-private partnerships, civil society organizations (CSOs) and communities, the planned rural mechanism is building a platform for local residents to administer public affairs using their own initiative, which is expected to help improve service quality, alleviate social tensions and resolve disputes, according to Gu.

The mechanism is expected to relieve government organs of the management of massive public affairs and empower people to form CSOs that offer tailor-made services in response to the needs of the local residents such as elderly people living independently and pre-school children.

Ningbo's strong economic growth has dramatically improved the lives of millions, yet, "government, private sector and society must work together to overcome challenges that have built up during this process of rapid development," said UN Under-Secretary-General and UNDP Associate Administrator Rebecca Grynspan at the signing ceremony.

"Ningbo and other port cities around the world are facing pressing issues including deteriorating resources, imbalances between rural and urban areas, and a lack of continuous social innovation. That is why public-private partnerships are so vital," she stressed.

Ningbo has seen booming growth in its private sector, especially over the past five years. Private companies account for 90 percent of all firms registered in the city and the private sector makes remarkable contribution to the economy, according to Liu Qi, mayor of Ningbo.

The rural project will create opportunities for the business community, which has growing enthusiasm for supporting public welfare undertakings, to work along with the government in finding solutions for sustainable development challenges, according to Lu Jianfan, UNDP special advisor.

The concept of "social management" has gained popularity since it was put forward by the Communist Party of China (CPC) leaders last year.

Social management, or social governance, encompasses government tasks excluding economic management and administrative management, such as social justice and stability, public services, civic participation and community governance.

Strong and innovative social governance will help to promote social development, which otherwise lags far behind economic development. It reflects China's development trajectory evolved from a top-down, GDP and growth-oriented model to a bottom-up, harmonious model that allows wider civic participation and social autonomy, Gu explained.

Following the social governance innovation road map laid down in China's 12th Social and Economic Development Plan (2011-2015), CPC committees and governments at all levels are prioritizing governance reform featuring decentralization, activating self-service and self-governance in society and broad civic participation.

The project in rural Ningbo is considered an experiment in building a "small government and big society," said Gu.

"With the combined leadership and global insights that the government and UNDP can provide, I believe the road ahead for social management innovation will lead to greater progress in the development of Ningbo," said Grynspan.