The city is a growing actor in
international relations.This essay explores the relationship between the city and international
relations.As a great human achievement,the city appeared ahead of the state and moreover it tends to exist beyond the state. In the future, the state may be transformed and even disappear, while the city will continue to exist for a long time. The city has been experiencing birth, development, and expansion as the result of increased settlement. The evolution of the city has provided it with a changing role in
international relations. When the state works as a main actor in international relations, the city plays only a minor role; but with the development of globalization, the city has become the center of transnational companies, non-governmental organizations, and networked information, and it is also a point of juncture connecting different economic and cultural factors. From the perspective of “high-politics”,national
sovereignty is still the basic principle in international relations, but from the perspective of the “low-politics” of economics and culture, more power is being transferred down to the city level from the level of national sovereignty to develop foreign exchanges. Therefore, city diplomacy with a special content is taking shape and will mature with the passage of time.