Why the global initiative of civilization is important for human progress

Xi Jinping, Secretary General of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CPC) and Chinese President, attends the CPC in dialogue with the high -level global political parties via the video link and delivered an opening speech to Beijing, capital of China, March 15, 2023. (Xinhua / Huang Jingwen), March 15, 2023. (Xinhua / Huang Jingwen)

In the office bordered by Professor Stelios Virvidakis at the University of Athens, the oldest and most estimated academic institution of Greece, a letter is carefully preserved as a precious and delicate model.

He came from Chinese President Xi Jinping, delivered to congratulate the inauguration of the Center for Ancient Chinese and Greek civilizations in the centuries -old university in February 2023.

“It was a delicious surprise for all of us,” said Virvidakis, the philosopher look softening in memory.

In the letter, XI noted that more than 2000 years ago, China and Greece, two sparkling civilizations at each end of the Eurasian continent, made a revolutionary contribution to the evolution of human civilization.

Now, he said, it is a deep historical and contemporary meaning for them to work together to promote exchanges and mutual learning and improve the development of all civilizations.

The well -preserved letter reflects Xi's broader vision of promoting intercultural dialogue and mutual learning as a catalyst for world peace and development, a vision that has led its diplomatic action worldwide.

This aspiration is better embodied in its global initiative of civilization (GCI), launched at a conference between the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the world political parties in 2023, where he stressed that tolerance, coexistence, exchanges and mutual learning between the different civilizations play an irrefaculated role in the process of modernization of humanity when the future of all countries are closely Connected.

With the GCI marking its second anniversary on Saturday, the vision of XI – to build a world where civilizations do not come up against, but Converse – has become more and more relevant, standing both as a nod to ancient ties and as a daring point in an effiled world tapestry.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and foreign leaders arrive to attend the opening ceremony of the 2024 summit of the China-Africa Cooperation Forum (Focac) in the great people of the Beijing People, Capital of China, September 5, 2024. (Xinhua / Huang Jingwen)

In recent years, some academics and politicians of the West have once again tightened the theory of the shock of civilizations, proposed for the first time by the American political scientist Samuelton in 1993. They depict certain civilizations as superior to others and seek to divide countries through ideological and racial lines.

In the background of the resurgence of these feelings is a world undergoing unprecedented transformations rarely seen in a century. The countries of the South South world, collective increase, demand their legitimate right to modernization in stronger votes, while world deficits of peace, security, development and governance are increasingly increasing.

In the eyes of XI, no civilization in the world is superior to others, and each civilization is equal and unique. “Civilizations came in different colors, and such diversity makes exchanges and mutual learning between relevant and precious civilizations,” he said in a speech at the siege of UNESCO in Paris in 2014.

Months after putting forward the GCI in 2023, XI explained during an event in San Francisco that the initiative is supposed to “urge the international community to approach the imbalance between material and cultural progress and jointly promote the continuous progress of human civilization”.

The global initiatives of China, in particular the GCI, defender of an egalitarian and inclusive order in pursuit of just and coherent global governance, said NGO Tee Keat, president of the Belt and Road Initiative Caucus for Asia Pacific and a former Minister of Transport in Malaysia.

In the meantime, he said: “The GCI has led a clear message to the house that all nations have the right to choose their own development paths in their quest for modernization, which is not necessarily synonymous with Westernization.”

In September 2024, during the opening ceremony of the Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, XI presented 10 partnership actions for modernization, the first being “the action of partnership for mutual learning among civilizations”.

“China will improve the exchanges of people to the person and cultural with Africa, mutual respect, mutual respect, the inclusiveness and the coexistence of different civilizations on our way to modernization, and strive together for more fruitful results under the GCI,” said Xi.

While the global order designed to serve the interests of Western powers no longer meets the evolving needs and aspirations of countries in the world world, a call for change is a natural response, the Malaysian expert said.

“It must happen … without any mental subordination. It is only then that an environment can be created for the modernization and development of a nation,” he said. “In this regard, the GCI undoubtedly serves as a powerful catalyst.”