For development, the world needs an image of the future, and now this image of a convenient and comfortable future for all of humanity is emerging in the interaction of the countries of the Global South: those countries that in Russia we call the world majority. China’s global initiative to create a community of “shared destiny for humanity” is an extremely important element of the emerging future world structure, Andrey Bystritsky, Chairman of the Board of the Foundation for Development and Support of the Valdai Discussion Club, told guests at the opening of the 8th Annual “Understanding China” Conference in Guangzhou on December 3. The title of the conference is “Carry Through the Reform to the End: Chinese Modernisation and New Opportunities for World Development”.
Andrey Bystritskiy noted the importance of finding instruments of international regulation in the interdependent modern world. “China has taken part in the creation of many international organisations: BRICS, SCO, the Belt and Road Initiative. These organisations create a development matrix, and it unites most of the world. They can become new instruments of international regulation,” he emphasised in his speech.
At the opening, the conference participants were also addressed by Li Shulei, a member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China and head of the Propaganda Department of the CPC Central Committee; Huang Kunming, member of the CPC Politburo and Secretary of the CPC Party Committee of Guangdong Province; Zheng Bijian, Founding Chairman of the China Institute of Innovation and Development Strategy (CIIDS); Mulatu Teshome, President of Ethiopia (2013-2018); Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Prime Minister of Pakistan (2017-2018) and other politicians and scholars from around the world. American economist, Nobel Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz also attended the conference.
In a welcome letter to the participants of the Understanding China conference, Chinese President Xi Jinping noted: “Century-old changes in the world are accelerating. Countries not only face new risks and challenges, but also receive new development opportunities and prospects for progress. China hopes to cooperate with other countries to create conditions conducive to development and active responses to various difficulties and challenges, as well as achieve the modernisation of countries around the world. Chinese-style modernisation can not only satisfy the desire for a better life among 1.4 billion people, but also make a new and greater contribution to peace and development throughout the entire world.”
The 8th Understanding China Annual Conference, organised by the China Institute of Innovation and Development Strategy (CIIDS), the China People’s Institute of Foreign Affairs (CPIFA) and the Guangdong Provincial Government, is being held from December 2 to 4 in Beijing and Guangzhou, bringing together global experts from China, Russia, Ethiopia, the United States, Austria, Pakistan and other countries. The event includes an opening ceremony, keynote speeches, guest dialogue sessions, six parallel seminars, 14 thematic forums and a series of side events.
According to the organisers, the agenda includes an analysis of the global significance of China’s deepening reforms, the distinctive features and achievements of China’s path to modernisation, the promotion of traditional Chinese culture, and the demonstration of the unique advantages and development prospects of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
The Valdai Discussion Club was established in 2004. It is named after Lake Valdai, which is located close to Veliky Novgorod, where the Club’s first meeting took place.
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