Therese Healy the Consul General of Ireland in Shanghai

Being present for the 10th anniversary of the twinning between Shanghai and Ireland's Cork city was a particular highlight in 2015.

On a personal level, seeing the famous Irish traditional band The Chieftains perform in Shanghai 32 years after their first visit to China was incredibly inspiring and a very proud moment for all in the Irish community here.

Last October Shanghai hosted the all Asian Gaelic Games, which featured the Irish sports of Gaelic football and hurling.

We will showcase Irish culture, including music and dance, during our Irish Week or Feile Shanghai in March around our National Day of March 17. We'll have a multitude of indoor and outdoor events but the biggest cluster will center on our Family Day. We also will celebrate the life and works of Samuel Beckett and James Joyce. We will be working closely with schools and universities on a variety of Irish themes.

The quality of life is already high in Shanghai. However, as a pedestrian I'd love to see greater traffic controls at pedestrian crossings and on the pavements, particularly concerning electric bikes, to allow pedestrians to move freely and safely through this great city.

Stefano Beltrame the Consul General of Italy

For Italy, 2015 has been the year of the Milan Expo. Delegations of Shanghai leaders visited Milan during Shanghai Week last June and on other occasions, such as World Cities Day. Shanghai hosted the last Expo in 2010 and it shared its experience with Milan. These two cities have had a twinning agreement since 1979, the oldest for Shanghai.

In 2016 we want to insist on the post-Expo cooperation which means that technology, fashion and food will be our main focus. We are preparing with the Jing'an district the launch of a Sino-Italian platform for the promotion of fashion, because Nanjing Road is twinned with Via Montenapoleone.

In February we will promote a conference that, during the year of the celebrations of the 500 years of the ghetto of Venice, will present the history of the first (Venice) and last (Shanghai) ghetto.

Finally 2016 marks the 10th anniversary of the double degree agreements between, on the one hand, Luiss, Bocconi and Fudan University and, on the other hand, Politecnico and Tongji University.

Shanghai is a very well organized and safe city. Certainly air pollution is quite a concern, especially if you have kids.

Eduardo E. Martire the Consul General of Argentina

Generally speaking, Argentina and China worked hard during 2015 to strengthen our friendship and mutual cooperation. As a matter of fact, both countries have reached bilateral agreements and commitments during 2015, which strengthened the relationship between the two countries. As for the city of Shanghai, one of its vice mayors, Mr Shi Guanghui, paid an official visit to Argentina in October, to exchange views with our country in the city of Buenos Aires.

On December 10, 2015, the newly elected Argentina President Mauricio Macri and his staff took office and they have reiterated the importance of enhancing cooperation with China. In a few words, as the Consulate General of Argentina in Shanghai, we will keep our focus on the promotion of bilateral trade, outbound investment from China to Argentina. Meanwhile, we will organize cultural events such as tango shows in order to help Chinese people understand our culture and to raise people's interests in visiting our country.

I hope that in 2016 the architectural heritage of Shanghai will be better protected. Actually, the city has many beautiful and remarkable buildings that deserve to be protected.

Khaled Youssef the Consul General of Egypt

From December 2014 to December 2015 Sino-Egyptian relations have witnessed a record-breaking year on all fronts including the political and economic fields. The two Egyptian presidential visits to China enabled the signing of 30 agreements of cooperation in various fields, including a strategic partnership agreement, and a government-to-government framework agreement that paved the way for unprecedented economic cooperation. As a result, plans are now under way for an official visit by President Xi Jinping to Egypt in January 2016.

Our bilateral trade has already exceeded $11 billion and we are expecting it to steadily increase. Our investment relations have been booming since the active Chinese participation in the Egyptian Economic Conference in Sharm El Sheik.

We are currently in the process of signing a friendly cooperation memorandum between the Shanghai Museum and the Egyptian Museum.

Looking ahead at 2016, Egypt and China will be celebrating the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations by holding a series of cultural events. Moreover, plans are underway for signing a new sistership agreement between Shanghai and Cairo.

Luc Decker the Consul General of Luxembourg

2015 was special to my country as we held the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union for the second half of the year. In Shanghai, I chaired the meetings with the 24 consuls general of EU member states present here and represented the EU on some occasions. Regarding the Luxembourg-Shanghai relations specifically, the grand opening of the EU headquarters of the Shanghai-based Bank of Communications in May in Luxembourg was certainly the highlight.

The Year of the Monkey will be a year under the sign of business for Shanghai-Luxembourg relations. Indeed, HRH the Crown Prince of the Grand-Duchy and our Vice Prime Minister will lead a large business delegation to Shanghai in April and our Minister of Finance will lead a delegation from the financial sector to Shanghai in November.

But Luxembourg should not be a bridge between China and Europe only for business - the China Table Tennis College is setting up its European presence in Luxembourg and CTTC-Europe should be officially set-up in 2016.

I hope that the efforts of the Shanghai Municipality and surrounding provincial governments to tackle air pollution will continue.

Arturo Puente Ortega the Consul General of Mexico

2015 has been a great year for our bilateral cooperation in many ways and in very diverse fields. I would like to highlight two particular events. The first one was the forum "China - Latin America: Sharing the Future," organized by the consulates general of Latin America with CPPCC Shanghai and SPDA at the beginning of September. This forum allowed us to strengthen our bilateral ties, promote business opportunities and enhance our mutual interest and cooperation. The second one was the increased cultural presence of Mexico in Shanghai as illustrated by the sculpture exhibition Wings of Mexico and by the launch of the first edition of the Pacific Alliance Film Showcase.

In 2016, as part of China's G20 Presidency, Shanghai will hold several important conferences on economic, finance and international development issues. I hope that 2016 will be the implementation year for the food and agricultural agreements recently signed.

I firmly believe that Shanghai will consolidate its international role as a dynamic, diverse, tolerant and cosmopolitan megalopolis. I hope that it will be able to progressively overcome challenges in terms of environment, urban growth and sustainable development.

Peter Rothen the Consul General of Germany

I will remember 2015 for a number of reasons. Let me start at the end of 2015: the COP21 conference in Paris. Its historic outcome of the COP21 conference in Paris makes 2015 the year when the entire international community has accepted the need to limit global warming and it has undertaken to act jointly.

For us in Shanghai, a major event in 2015 was the World Congress for German Language and Literature Studies, which took place in August and during which more than 1,200 scholars from all over the world assembled at Tongji University. My highlight was, of course, Chancellor Angela Merkel's recent visit to China, together with Premier Li Keqiang in Hefei in Anhui Province.

During that visit, Germany and China decided inter alia that 2016 is going to be the Sino-German Year of Youth and Student Exchange, stressing the high density of cooperation in this field which shall be further deepened.

In the same spirit of continuing the very close German-Chinese cooperation in many areas, the new year will start right away in mid-January with a high-ranking visitor: the Federal Minister for Education and Research, Johanna Wanka, will come to Shanghai and visit Shanghai Jiao Tong and Tongji universities.

Jan Wahlberg the Consul General of Finland

2015 was an important year for Finland and China. We celebrated the 65th anniversary of our diplomatic relations, culminating in China being the main theme of the Helsinki Festival last summer. Over 800 performers from China participated.

Here in Shanghai we commemorated the 150 years of the birth of the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius with concerts and events. We also organized the third edition of the Nordic Design and Innovation Week. The Speaker of the Finnish Parliament visited China and participated in the first Sino-Nordic Young Champions Forum in Yiwu. The Minister of the Economy inaugurated the Finnish elevator company KONE's testing tower - which is the highest in the world - in Kunshan. Shanghai and the Yangtze River Delta Region are the biggest conglomeration of Finnish companies - about 200 - outside of Europe.

We have lots of events in the pipeline in 2016 to mark our consulate's 20-year anniversary. I hope that the ongoing efforts to improve Shanghai's environmental situation will further help secure better livelihood for all.