At the high-level dialogue between the Communist Party of China and world political parties held on the evening of March 15, 2023, General Secretary Xi Jinping proposed the Global Civilization Initiativefor the first time, which has attracted widespread attention to home and abroad.

General Secretary Xi Jinping summarized the main content of the Global Civilization Initiative with four “common advocacies”, providing a Chinese solution to promoting civilization exchanges and mutual learning and promoting human civilization progress.

“Respecting for diversity of civilizations” is a prerequisite for inclusive coexistence and exchange and mutual learning among different civilizations; “An Unswerving Champion for Humanity’s Common Values” provides fundamental compliance for all parties; “Valuing civilization inheritance and innovation” is the driving force for civilization development and progress; “Strengthening international cultural and people-to-people exchanges and cooperation” provides a way for different civilizations to meet and know each other.

It can be seen that these four aspects are interlocking and complementary, together forming a major initiative with high constructiveness and operability.

To meet common challenges and move towards a better future, we need not only economic and technological strength but also cultural and civilizational strength. From deeply interpreting China’s view of civilization in international occasions such as UNESCO to promoting cultural exchanges during visits abroad, to personally proposing the Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations… General Secretary Xi Jinping is mindful and hands-on to promote all parties to transcend civilization estrangement, civilization mutual learning, civilization conflict, civilization tolerance and civilization superiority through civilized exchanges.

The Global Civilization Initiativeis another important public product provided by China in the new era after the Global Development Initiative and Global Security Initiative.

In September 2021, to solve development problems, President Xi Jinping put forward a global development initiative for the first time at the United Nations General Assembly; in April 2022, in the face of the continuously complex and changing international security situation, President Xi Jinping put forward the Global Security Initiative for the first time at the Boao Forum for Asia.

These two major initiatives are important supports for building a community with a shared future for mankind. Once proposed, they have been widely welcomed by the international community: currently, more than 100 countries and international organizations support the global development initiative, and nearly 70 countries have joined the “The Group of Friends of the Global Development Initiative (GDI)”; more than 80 countries and regions have expressed their appreciation and support for the global security initiative. On March 10th of this year, China, Saudi Arabia and Iran signed and issued a joint statement announcing that both sides agreed to restore diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran. This was also a successful practice of implementing the global security initiative.

What are General Secretary Xi Jinping’s considerations for proposing a Global Civilization Initiative at this time?

Today’s world is full of multiple challenges and crises. The world economy is recovering with difficulty, development gaps are widening, ecological environment continues to deteriorate, cold war thinking still lingers, and human society’s modernization process has once again come to a crossroads in history. At the same time, there are still many voices on the international public opinion stage such as “civilization superiority” and “civilization conflict”.

In his keynote speech, General Secretary Xi Jinping further elaborated on the inherent logic between civilization and modernization:

“Around the world, countries and regions have chosen different paths to modernization, which are rooted in their unique and long civilizations.”

“All civilizations created by human society are splendid. They are where each country's modernization drive draws its strength and where its unique feature comes from. They, transcending time and space, have jointly made important contribution to humanity’s modernization process.”

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The proposal of the Global Civilization Initiative further enriches and expands the practical path of building a community with a shared future for mankind, providing more ideological guidance and inspiration for where human society should go.

At the high-level dialogue meeting, many foreign political party and political organization leaders expressed their recognition and support for this major initiative. Ukhnaagiin Khürelsükh, Chairman of the Mongolian People’s Party and Prime Minister of Mongolia, said that General Secretary Xi Jinping proposed international regional peace and cooperation initiatives such as the global development initiative, global security initiative, and Global Civilization Initiative, which Mongolia supports. Mutual trust, dialogue, and cooperation are the common expectations of all mankind and the future of the world. 

From the global development initiative to the global security initiative, and then to theGlobal Civilization Initiative, it is not difficult to see that these three major initiatives are in line with General Secretary Xi Jinping’s ideas of governing the country and are consistent with the worldview and methodology of Chinese Communists in the new era.

In his keynote speech on the 15th, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that the Communist Party of China will be committed to promoting high-quality development and promoting global development and prosperity; committed to upholding international fairness and justice, promoting world peace and stability; committed to promoting exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations, promoting human civilization progress; committed to strengthening exchanges and cooperation among political parties, working together to walk down the path of world governance.

The road ahead is for all. General Secretary Xi Jinping’s words convey confidence and strength: “Chinese-style modernization as a new form of human civilization will greatly enrich the world’s garden of civilizations through mutual learning with other civilizations around the world.”

One flower does not make spring; only when all flowers bloom together can we have a garden full of spring. We believe that as long as countries work together, they will definitely be able to create a new picture of human society’s modernization with all flowers blooming together!