Friendship to All Over the World

（October12,2021）

Wang  chao

 

Your Excellency Vice Chairman Wang Chen,

Distinguished Leaders, Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It gives me great pleasure to come to Bengbu city, “the Pearl of the Huai River”, Anhui province, to attend the 6th Annual Conference of Taihu World Cultural Forum. This is the first annual conference since the Forum was relocated in Bengbu city. As the permanent site, the Ancient Residence Expo Park is a model of traditional culture integrating cultural landscape, natural scenery and traditional architecture, providing guests with a precious place to enjoy beautiful scenery, taste diverse cultures and promote cultural exchanges. On behalf of the Chinese People's Institute of Foreign Affairs (CPIFA), I wish to extend heartfelt congratulations on the opening of the Annual Conference of the Forum.

Diversity of civilizations is a defining feature of human society, and inter-civilizations exchanges and mutual learning are an important driving force for human progress. Through the ages, each civilization carries the precious cultural heritage of its own country and inherits the spiritual blood of its own nation, whether ancient oriental countries or western countries. In a world made up of different cultures, races, religions and social systems, people of all countries have grown tolerant, learned from each other, and passed on civilizations, and formed a community with a shared future and written a brilliant chapter in human civilization. The world today faces combined impacts of changes and a pandemic both unseen in a century, President Xi Jinping clearly pointed out, “the COVID-19 pandemic has made it all the more clear to people around the world that we must reject the cold-war and zero-sum mentality and oppose a new “Cold War” and ideological confrontation in whatever forms. In state-to-state relations, the principles of equality, mutual respect and mutual trust must be put front and center. Bossing others around or meddling in others’ internal affairs would not get one any support. We must advocate peace, development, equity, justice, democracy and freedom, which are common values of humanity, and encourage exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations to promote the progress of human civilization”. This proposal charts the course for countries to jointly meet challenges and create a better future for mankind.

As one of the oldest civilizations in the world, the Chinese civilization has evolved over the course of more than 5,000 years, continuing to grow and flourish on the Chinese soil, consistently advocating and practicing exchanges, mutual learning and harmonious co-existence among different civilizations. The Chinese civilization, from the spread of eastern learning through the Silk Road in the Han and Tang Dynasties, the friendly stories brought by Zheng He's voyages to the western seas, the spread of western learning in modern times, to today's unprecedented interdependence and shared future between China and the rest of the world, has never stopped learning from and communicating with other civilizations in the world. That is why President Xi Jinping has put forward China's vision of civilization on many occasions, adovacated equality, mutual learning, dialogue and inclusiveness, with exchanges and mutual learning to replace estrangement, interaction to replace conflict, harmonious co-existence to replace a sense of superiority.

Distinguished Guests,

This year marks the centenary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC).  The governance philosophy of the CPC is deeply rooted in the gene of Chinese civilization. One of the valuable lessons learned from the century-old history of the CPC is “to integrate the basic tenets of Marxism with China's actual conditions and fine traditional Chinese culture”. "Peace, amity and harmony are concepts that the Chinese nation has always pursued and inherited," emphasized by General Secretary Xi jinping at a ceremony marking the centenary of the CPC. “The CPC cares about the future of humanity, and wishes to move forward in tandem with all progressive forces around the world”. “We are also eager to learn what lessons we can from the achievements of other cultures, and welcome helpful suggestions and constructive criticism” . This fully demonstrates the CPC's determination and confidence to work with all peace-loving countries and people to build a community with a shared future for mankind under the banner of peace, development, cooperation and win-win outcomes.

Although the culture is different, the heart can be connected. With the progress and development of science and technology, the depth and breadth of human civilization in the future will surely have a greater leap forward. Equality, respect, inclusiveness and mutual learning among different countries and civilizations will chart the course, inspire wisdom and provide impetus for addressing global challenges and promoting world peace and development. As the first national people's diplomatic office in new China, the CPIFA stays committed to “Making Friends for the Country and Bringing Friendship to All Over the World”, and stands ready to work with other parties to build a bridge of friendship for dialogue and exchange among civilizations and contribute to a community with a shared future for mankind.

In conclusion, I wish this annual conference a complete success.

Thank you!