The EU cities of Rome (Italy), Barcelona and Granada (Spain), and the Stuttgart Region (including Ludwigsburg) in Germany travelled to the Chinese cities of Chengdu and Liuzhou from 9 – 15 June 2019 to meet their counterparts under the IUC programme. The trip was a follow-up to the encounter that took place in the EU in April 2019. In line with the IUC programme's thematic clustering approach, the mission centered on energy and smart cities, topics in which concrete pilot projects have been identified.

The programme began in Chengdu, where delegates from EU cities visited areas of the city promoting development (namely, Tianfu and the High-Tech Zone). During the second day, the EU cities and representatives from over 10 Chinese cities and 50 business & research institutes participated in a tailored EU-China forum on smart cities and innovation. At the event, three panel-discussions were held dealing with sectors, projects and innovative actors related to the IUC Asia programme.

The delegation then traveled to Liuzhou for targeted field visits and meetings, with a special focus on smart cities, manufacturing (especially within the automobile industry), renewable energy, innovative technology and vocational education. Site visits were undertaken to the Liuduong New District.

Based on the results of the visit, the Urban Cooperative Action Plans (UCAPs) are being developed by the city representatives and the thematic cluster managers. The UCAPs contain the main pilot projects and provide details on the means to implement them.