Speech by HE Wang Yi at the International Conference on Friendship with China and Events Marking the 70th Anniversary of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries_Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China

Beijing, October 11, 2024

Friends,
Distinguished guests,

It is a great pleasure to welcome you here to Beijing to jointly celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC).

CPAFFC is an important window for deepening friendship between the Chinese people and people of other countries. It was founded on the mission of developing friendship between people and promoting international practical cooperation. Over the past seven decades, CPAFFC has cultivated friendships around the world, forging cooperative relationships with more than 400 friendship organizations around the world and building bridges between more than 3,000 pairs of cities and towns. Twin States. Thanks to these efforts, the seeds of friendship between peoples have overcome geographical distances and cultural differences to take root, germinate and bear fruit.

All of you here are long-time good friends of the Chinese people. You have devoted years of effort to support the work of CPAFFC and made important contributions to better mutual understanding and closer ties between the people of your countries and China. Here I would like to greet you all and express my sincere gratitude to you.

Friends,

During his meeting with you this morning, President Xi Jinping elaborated on China's proposal to jointly build a community with a shared future for mankind in the spirit of global solidarity, based on a vision of win-win cooperation and with an open mind. and inclusive. . His important remarks show the way forward for China's people's diplomacy in the new journey of the new era. At this afternoon's commemorative conference, Vice President Han Zheng expressed new hopes for deepening friendship, exchanges and people-to-people cooperation between China and the rest of the world.

As we speak, a transformation not seen in a century is accelerating around the world. The world has entered a new period of turbulence and change. Being at a historic crossroads. President Xi Jinping stressed that people are the creators of history, and building a community with a shared future for humanity is the way forward for all people in the world. To build such a community, we need to do a number of things together.

We must convince people of peace and safeguard the tranquility of the world. Peace is like the air and the sun. This should not be the prerogative of a few countries or individuals; it should be shared by all people of all countries. The Chinese nation is a peace-loving nation, and the Chinese people know very well that peace does not come easily. In the 75 years since the founding of the People's Republic, we have been firmly committed to the path of peaceful development, an independent foreign policy of peace and the Five Principles of peaceful coexistence. We have worked for a peaceful international environment to develop ourselves and contributed to world peace through our own development.

We must unite the efforts of people for development and work for shared prosperity. Every country has a dream of modernization and rightly has the right to pursue this dream. As President Xi Jinping said, on the path of modernization, no one and no country should be left behind. China always places its own development in the broader context of human development and integrates the interests of the Chinese people with the common interests of people around the world. We actively implement the Global Development Initiative, pursue high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, and generate new opportunities for global modernization with the latest achievements of China's modernization. These efforts have given new impetus to global development.

We must respond to people's desire to communicate more and promote mutual learning between civilizations. The diversity of civilizations is a defining characteristic of human society. For millennia, Chinese civilization has embraced harmony without uniformity and the harmonious coexistence of all beings. These notions are deeply rooted in the philosophy and mentality of the Chinese nation and are reflected in our interactions with other nations throughout history. China upholds the common values ​​of humanity of peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy and freedom, and advocates equality, mutual learning, dialogue and mutual accommodation among civilizations. We never impose our own values ​​or models on others. On the contrary, China has actively engaged in international cultural exchanges and cooperation, leading efforts to promote friendship between people and the progress of human civilization.

Friends,

Always standing with the people is the fundamental political position of the Chinese Communist Party. All CPC efforts are guided by a people-centered approach. Facilitating exchanges between people is an important mission of Chinese diplomacy. China invites visionary people from all countries to join the noble cause of friendship between peoples, work to consolidate its foundations, and contribute their wisdom and strength to building a community with a shared future. humanity.

First, I encourage you to strengthen ties and build more bridges for people-to-people exchanges between China and your countries. Friendship groups and organizations at home and abroad should interact and visit each other more often to strengthen your traditional ties, perpetuate the spirit of friendship and nurture a new generation of friendship forces among young people. For our part, China will facilitate international travel by providing smoother channels and more convenient arrangements, so as to make travel to China hassle-free for our foreign friends and pave the way for deeper interactions among the Chinese people. and visitors from all over the world. .

Second, I encourage you to facilitate the convergence of interests and give greater momentum to pragmatic cooperation between China and your countries. Twin cities serve as links between our countries and are expected to promote mutually beneficial cooperation and strengthen synergy between development strategies at the subnational level. They should consolidate cooperation in the traditional areas of economy, trade, culture, education and sports, while expanding cooperation to emerging areas such as science, technology, innovation and green development. In doing so, they can open new paths and create more platforms for practical cooperation between China and relevant countries, and thus jointly enlarge the cake of common interests.

Third, I encourage you to promote mutual understanding and create conditions conducive to the development of friendly mutual perceptions. As globalization and the Internet profoundly change the way people perceive things and interact with each other, we in China must keep pace with the times, project our voices both online and offline, and present stories about China, its external interactions and a community with a shared future for humanity in a powerful way. By working together with our friends, we hope to galvanize more positive energy of friendship and mutual trust, and help shape a rational and friendly perception of each other's countries.

Friends,

As an ancient Chinese saying goes, heart-to-heart communication creates lasting friendship. China stands ready to unite with all people committed to justice, peace and development, strengthen our faith in friendship, deepen friendship, advance a community with a shared future for mankind and usher in a better future for humanity as a whole.