NINGBO - 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.

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

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 UN Under-Secretary-General and UNDP Associate Administrator Rebecca Grynspan at the agreement's signing ceremony.