Mayors of 40 Chinese and foreign Winter cities will gather in northeast China's Jilin Province next month to discuss the development of Winter cities in coping with chilly climate.

Under the theme of "Development in Winter," the 12th mayors conference, sponsored by the World Winter Cities Association for Mayors (WWCAM), is scheduled to be held in Changchun from January 15 to 18, 2006, said Bo Zhongtang, deputy director of the foreign affairs office of Changchun City government, on Wednesday.

The mayors will discuss issues in relation to the development of Winter cities such as Winter life, energy saving and environmental protection in Winter.

Other two activities, the Winter City Forum and Winter City Trade Fair, will be held simultaneously in Changchun.

The WWCAM organization was initiated by Japanese city Sapporo in 1981, known as the Northern Intercity Conference at first. The first conference was held in 1982 at Sapporo.

The organization changed its name into WWCAM in 2004 at its 11th conference held at Anchorage, a city in southern Alaska in the US. It has 19 member cities from 11 countries as of April 2005.

(Xinhua News Agency December 22, 2005)