Give play to the role of drip irrigation through multicultural exchanges and mutual learning

Jointly build the Belt and Road Initiative and a community with a shared future for mankind

——Ye Xiaowen at the Third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation

Distinguished guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

       It is a great honor to have the opportunity to share with you the topic of jointly building the "Belt and Road" and a community with a shared future for mankind.

       At present, the global economy faces a grim situation of high inflation and low growth. The foundation for a full recovery of the domestic economy is not yet solid. The Human Development Index has dropped for the first time in 30 years. In the international community, unilateralism and protectionism are on the rise. Some countries are building "small walls", pushing for "decoupling and breaking chains", and calling for "de-risking" supply chains. The lack of trust between major countries, the resurgence of the Cold War mentality, the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the world is facing the risk of confrontation and even war again, peace deficit, development deficit, security deficit and governance deficit prominent and even intensified.

       Standing at the crossroads of where to go, mankind is faced with two completely different orientations: One is to return to the Cold War mentality, provoke division and antagonism, and create confrontation among blocs; The other is based on the common well-being of mankind, committed to solidarity and cooperation, advocating openness and win-win, and practicing equal respect. "What kind of world to build and how to build this world" has become a major issue concerning the future and destiny of mankind.

       As early as 10 years ago, President Xi JINPING put forward the vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind, calling for an open, inclusive, clean and beautiful world that enjoys lasting peace, universal security and common prosperity. The Chinese government has put forward the Belt and Road Initiative, the Global Development Initiative, the Global Peace Initiative, and the Global Civilization Initiative. As a responsible major country, we aim to eliminate the deficit in peace, development, security, and governance. On September 26 this year, The State Council issued a white paper entitled "Working Together to Build a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind: China's Initiatives and Actions", reaffirming the "five-in-one" overall framework of building a community with a shared future for mankind, including partnerships, security pattern, development prospects, civilization exchanges and ecological system. The Belt and Road Initiative is a vivid practice of building a community with a shared future for mankind. It is a popular international public good and a platform for international cooperation provided by China to the world.

      Both the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road are roads for inter-civilization exchanges. The ancient Silk Road was not only a trade road, but also a road of friendship between the Chinese nation and other nations. The Silk Road Spirit, with peace and cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, mutual learning and mutual benefit at its core, was itself proposed from the perspective of exchanges and mutual learning between the Chinese civilization and other civilizations in the world. It is the best inspiration for China's concept of cooperation with other civilizations as a result of exchanges and mutual learning among human civilizations. The "five links" that the Belt and Road Initiative aims to achieve are not only infrastructure and visible economic elements, but also humanistic elements, reflecting the accumulation of spiritual wealth, cultural diversity and the pursuit of common values of mankind.  As we live in a global village, we should be good neighbors. We should work together to respect the diversity of civilizations, transcend estrangement through exchanges, clash of civilizations through mutual learning, and superiority through inclusiveness. We should jointly advocate and promote the common values of all mankind, have a broad mind to understand the connotation of values of different civilizations, and refrain from imposing our own values and models on others or engaging in ideological confrontation. We should jointly advocate the importance of cultural inheritance and innovation, fully tap the historical and cultural values of various countries, and promote the creative transformation and innovative development of their fine traditional cultures in the process of modernization. Jointly advocate strengthening international people-to-people exchanges and cooperation, explore the establishment of a global network of dialogue and cooperation among civilizations, enrich the content of exchanges, expand cooperation channels, promote mutual understanding and friendship between people of all countries, and jointly promote the development and progress of human civilization.

       The Chinese nation has always emphasized that we should not do to others what we do not want others to do to us, and that we should help others when we want others to be able to achieve what we want. This is how we approach other nations and countries in the world as neighbors and friends. The fine traditional culture of the Chinese nation puts people first, values peace as the highest value, advocates benevolence, values people first, adheres to integrity, upholsters justice, promotes harmony, and seeks common ground. This is especially valuable in competitive market conditions. Because a complete market system, in addition to the need for effective property rights and legal systems, but also need in honesty, integrity, cooperation, fairness, justice and other aspects of good moral people to operate the market, the impulse of "capital" and the construction of "integrity" combined to form a trustworthy and honorable, disgraceful social atmosphere. "The world is based on sincerity and treats people with generosity." Today, the Chinese nation, which is running fast on the road to realizing the great rejuvenation of the nation, is so sincere and generous and candidly based on the world and treats people with dignity. The core of China's fine traditional culture and the ethical spirit of the modern market economy are one and the same. In the process of jointly building the Belt and Road Initiative and a community with a shared future for mankind, we can also leverage our unique advantages by playing a silent "drip irrigation" role, and realize a new form of civilization and sustainable development through multicultural exchanges and mutual learning. We will promote greater prosperity in trade, greater facilitation of investment, greater mobility of people, and greater development of technology.

       To give play to the drip irrigation role of multicultural exchanges and mutual learning and jointly build the Belt and Road and a community with a shared future for mankind, Chinese think tanks should play a better role. First, it is necessary to gather collective wisdom, carry out multi-level and all-round institutional innovation, concept innovation and form innovation in the construction of the discourse system, and truly give play to the important role of Chinese think tanks in public diplomacy and the dissemination of culture and values. The second is to tell the "China story" with reference to the shared values of the world, communicate and learn from each other to demonstrate China's cultural confidence and improve the international acceptance of the "Belt and Road" construction. Third, we will work with think tanks from countries along the Belt and Road to build an international cooperation network, highlight China from an international perspective, and let the international community hear more of China's voice.

       Thank you all!