《The Fifth Annual Conference》

The Fifth Annual Conference of Taihu World Cultural Forum

 

Consensus

 

From October 18 to 19, 2018, more than 1,000 famous politicians, philosophers, social scientists, cultural scholars, entrepreneurs, media leaders and friends from all communities from nearly 40 countries and regions in five continents and international organizations gathered in Beijing to attend the Fifth Annual Conference of Taihu World Cultural Forum. Around the theme of this year's Conference, "Cultural Dialogue: Building a Community of Shared Future for Mankind", the participants reached the following consensus after equal exchanges and in-depth discussions.

 

First, building a community of shared future for mankind in an open, inclusive, clean, and beautiful world with lasting peace, universal security, and common prosperity is the fundamental and common interest of all peoples in the world, the universal value of human society, and the historical trend of peace, cooperation, and development in this era.

 

Second, building a community of shared future for mankind is an ambitious and urgent task of the times, which has put forward new historic requirements for cultural construction. Building such a community is also a long and tortuous historical process requiring strong cultural supports. The key to prosperity and development of culture in the world today lies in faithful reflection of the will of the people and enhanced cultural innovation that plays a long-term, fundamental role in promoting the joint construction of a community of shared future for mankind.

 

Third, we should build a war-free world featuring universal security and lasting peace basing on the principles of mutual respect and harmony without conformity. Peace and tranquility have always been the fundamental interests and generational dreams of all peoples in the world. We should uphold the spirit of harmony without conformity, insist that different countries treat each other as equals, and live together peacefully; we should safeguard the independent choice of social systems and development paths of peoples; we should respect national sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity and refrain from interfering in each other's internal affairs; and we should strengthen international cooperation to jointly solve global problems such as climate change, terrorism, nuclear proliferation and refugee influx. We must not engage in hegemonism, double standards, cold war mentality, and cultural prejudice. We should abandon the rule of the jungle that emphasizes on selfish interests and arbitrary behaviors and insist on replacing confrontation with communication and replacing bullying with negotiation when it comes to conflicts and clashes. We should give full play to the power of culture, keep spreading the concept of peace, closely interacting with each other, and gathering the forces of peace, so as to pursue, protect, and share world peace and tranquility together.

 

Fourth, we should pursue equality, mutual benefit, and win-win cooperation, building a world of common prosperity free from poverty. In today's world, open international cooperation and a rules-based multilateral trading system are driving economic globalization and free trade to flourish. Economies are more closely linked than ever before, forming a community of interests in which everyone share the same benefits. The world economy is farther and farther away from the old days of isolation and closure, overturning the old rule of the jungle and "zero-sum game". Anachronistic approaches will lead nowhere. Economic bullying, unilateralism, and protectionism, which focus on decrementing others, are destined to end in harm to themselves. We should follow the historical trend, assume the method of openness, integration, and win-win cooperation for mutual benefits. We should manage conflicts through negotiation, resolve clashes with reform and development, and promote the healthy development of economic globalization. We should press ahead with the "Belt and Road Initiative", adding new momentum to common development as a builder of world peace, a contributor to global development, and a maintainer of international order.

 

Fifth, we should seek common ground while reserving differences, learn from each other, and build an open and inclusive world that is far from enclosure. The world civilization is diverse and colorful, and no one is superior to others. We must respect the diversity. For any country, openness and inclusiveness mean progress, and closure and arrogance will spell backwardness. We should advocate mutual respect, exchange, and dialogue among civilizations. The rise and fall of the world and the future destiny of all mankind lies in whether we can ensure that with regard to different civilizations, exchange will replace estrangement, mutual learning will replace clashes, and coexistence will replace a sense of superiority. Strengthening cultural exchanges among different countries and leveraging the role of culture as a special bridge between minds enable people of all countries to continuously enhance mutual understanding and trust, overcome arrogance and prejudice, reduce misunderstanding and misjudgment, and provide an increasingly broad public opinion base and continuous cultural support for building a community of shared future for mankind.

 

Sixth, we should respect nature and work together to build a clean and beautiful world with lush mountains and lucid waters. The serious challenge of climate change poses an increasingly serious threat to the survival of mankind. No country can address the issue alone, let alone ignore the facts and abandon its historical responsibility. In the face of global challenges, the only right choice for all countries in the world is to make joint efforts. With an attitude of learning from the history, we should firmly establish the concept of respecting nature, conforming to nature, and protecting nature, aim to live coexist with the nature in harmony, change our production and lifestyle, take care of the earth together, heal the wounds of the ecological environment together, and build a global ecological system for green development that respects nature to the benefit of humanity and future generations.