Mutual learning leads to a shared future

Editor's note: China has become an important participant in and contributor to global governance, and Chinese ideas and solutions to major problems have gained greater recognition. China has also put forward the vision of a global community with a shared future for mankind, and has been pursuing the greater common good and safeguarding shared interests. Four experts share their views on the issue with China Daily.

At a time when geopolitical conflicts are intensifying across the world, American political scientist Samuel P. Huntington's theory of "clash of civilizations" is regaining popularity in a few Western countries, causing many to once again fall into the fatalistic pessimism of the inevitability of a clash of civilizations.

While pessimism spreads in the West, the wise man of the East, with rational and profound thinking, is leading humankind to a future of peaceful coexistence. On March 15, while delivering a speech at the Communist Party of China in Dialogue with World Political Parties High-level Meeting in Beijing, Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, made a wonderful exposition on the modernization of human society, and proposed the Global Civilization Initiative, expressing the Party's sincere desire to work with parties in other countries to ensure that modernization across the globe becomes a mighty force driving progress and prosperity and jointly build a community with a shared future for mankind.

By doing so, Xi demonstrated the Party's courage and responsibility to meet the common global challenges at a time when humankind's modernization journey has again reached a crossroad, and help stabilize the complex and turbulent international situation.

The Chinese path to modernization, a key term defining China's journey toward national rejuvenation, was written into the 20th CPC National Congress report in October 2022, with Xi Jinping emphasizing the "central task" of the CPC is to serve the people and calling for efforts to realize national rejuvenation through the Chinese path to modernization.

It is the diversity of civilizations that promotes interaction among them, which in turn facilitates mutual learning and development. The GCI is another major international public good proposed by China after the Belt and Road Initiative, the Global Development Initiative and the Global Security Initiative. They are the answer to the question of the century: What is wrong with the world and what should we do? They reflect China's global vision as a responsible major country.

Delivering a keynote speech at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization at its headquarters in Paris in 2014, Xi said: "We need to encourage different civilizations to respect each other and live together in harmony while promoting their exchanges and mutual learning as a bridge of friendship among peoples, a driving force behind human society, and a strong bond for world peace."

Nine years have passed since then, but Xi's vision of civilization characterized by diversity, equality and inclusiveness, remains significant. Especially, in today's complex and changing world, the only way to resolve humanity's common problems is to rely on the concerted efforts of all civilizations.

Xi summarized the GCI as "four proposals", that is, advocating respect for the diversity of civilizations, advocating the common values of humanity, advocating the importance of inheritance and innovations of civilizations, and advocating robust international people-to-people exchanges and cooperation.

The four proposals are interconnected, respect the diversity of civilizations, seek the greatest common divisor of civilizations, and strive to realize the dialectical unity of civilizational pluralism and commonality. The GCI not only attaches importance to the inheritance of civilization and emphasizes the historical and cultural traditions of different ethnic groups, but also foresees the future by reviewing the past and encourages all countries to harness the relevance of their histories and cultures to improve their future.

The GCI is aimed at exploring the action plan for building a global network for inter-civilizational dialogue and cooperation, and lays a path for building a community with a shared future for mankind, which is distinctly scientific, contemporary, advanced and practical.

As another important achievement of Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy, the GCI focuses on the common interests of the people around the world and expresses their common aspirations. As such, it will promote the noble cause of peaceful development and exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations.

Chinese civilization is one of the oldest and longest continuous civilizations in the world. As the inheritors of Chinese civilization, the Chinese people have a high degree of confidence in their culture, which will help them realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and build a modern and powerful socialist country. But the Chinese people also know there are more than 200 countries and regions in the world, and different civilizations have their own unique set of values.

But cultural differences should not be a source of global conflict. Instead, they should be turned into a driving force of civilizational advancement. The customs, traditional wisdom and culture, and the spiritual pursuit are national assets on which a country depends for survival and development.

In its cultural exchanges with other countries, China has always advocated that irrespective of their size, strength and wealth, all countries are equal members of the international community and have equal right to participate in international affairs. China rejects the concept of "cultural superiority" in all its forms, and opposes attempts by any country to impose its system of governance on other countries.

No matter how complex today's world is, only peaceful development and cooperation can bring benefits to all. Humankind has developed into one indivisible community of shared interests in which, according to an ancient Chinese saying, "the prosperity or suffering of one will have ripple effects on others".

In today's world, no country or region can realize true development by isolating itself from the rest of the world. That's why China has devoted itself to the grand cause of building, in partnership with other countries, a community with a shared future for mankind.

The GDI, the GSI and the GCI indicate that under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era and Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy, China's diplomacy is making, and will continue to make, greater contributions to promoting global peace and development.

Yu Jiang is full-time deputy secretary-general of the Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy Studies Center and vice-president of the China Institute of International Studies. Jia Ding is an assistant research fellow at the Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy Studies Center.

The views don't necessarily represent those of China Daily.