BEIJING: The plan to have a network of academic scholars that will provide alternative solutions to growing socioeconomic and political problems across the globe came into effect on Monday, December 12, 2022, following the successful holding of the “Building a Community with Shared Future – International Think Tank Forum (2022)” organized by the Institute for a Community with Shared Future (ICSF) of the Communication University of China (CUC).
The one-day event which was held online witnessed the attendance of diplomats, local and international scholars, foreign university representatives and officials from the CUC. Zhang Shuting, President of CUC addressed welcome remarks while CUC Vice President Professor Duan Peng chaired the opening ceremony. Guests from more than 16 universities and think tanks gathered together to communicate for promoting theoretical research and international communication for the idea of “Sustainable Development and Shared Future.”
Remarking at the opening of the event, CUC President Zhang Shutting thanked participants of the event and stressed the importance of the establishment of the ICSF by giving the background of the project from the CUC perspective. He noted that the concept of Community with a Shared Future is both a guiding spirit for Chinese diplomacy and a new idea for global governance and sustainable development.
Chairing the opening ceremony, CUC Vice President Professor Duan Peng noted that for three years since the establishment of the Institute of a Community with Share Future at CUC, 16 international research centres in Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe have been launched and fully activated across the globe.
Characterized by the launching of international centres in five different countries, the auspicious event also encapsulated a colourful awarding ceremony which saw an individual recognized for his enormous contribution towards building an academic community of scholars with a shared future as well as two Research Centers acknowledged in the same vain. Deputy Dean of the Institute for a Community with Shared Future at CUC Prof. Zhang Yanqiu announced the kick of the Centers.
International Research Centers inaugurated during the event includes Western African Research Center for a Community with Shared Future in Nigeria, Angola Research Center for a Community with Shared Future, Sri Lanka Research Center for a Community with Shared Future, Research Center for a Community with Shared Future and BRI in Peru, and Project of Studies on the Community with Shared Future and BRI of China and Chile.
At the same time, Mr Khalid Taimur Akram, Executive Director of the Pakistan Research Center for a Community with Shared Future, was given the Outstanding Individual Award, while China-Venezuela Research Center for a Community with Shared Future and Pakistan Research Center for a Community with Shared Future was given the Excellence Award as international Research Centers that promote the scholarly share future ideology.
On the diplomatic front, South Sudan Ambassador to China, Semaya K. Kumba stressed that building a community with a shared future can prevail and achieve its overall objectives when people seriously consider and understand the context and the real meaning of Human Community with a Shared Future, which includes consideration to specific elements within the spirit of this great thoughtful philosophy such as balancing developmental approach, people to people exchanges, sharing of experiences, transparency, accountability, avoidance of double standard theories and practices, respect to cultural values, capacity building.
For his part, Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to China Dr. Palitha Kohona said the people of Sri Lanka remained grateful for the level of support they received during the height of the Covid-19 outbreak in their country. He further noted that the opening up of China and its developmental programs like the Belt and Rail Initiatives (BRI) have served as a driving force towards truly realizing a community with a shared future.
Kim Jingon, Minister Counselor of the Korean Embassy to the P.R. China, shared his ideas of sustainable development from the perspective of philosophical speculation and cultural mutual learning. He believes that in the era of digital civilization, digital technology is creating a more harmonious world based on the unlimited production of content.
In the scholar forum session, as Dean of the Institute for a Community with Shared Future at CUC, Executive Vice President of the International Academic Network for a Community with Share Future, Prof. Li Huailiang noted that the concept of Human Community with Shared Future puts forward a new, all-round, multi-level, and wide-ranging pattern of international exchange to safeguard the common interest of all. Prof.Li also intoned that a community with a shared future for mankind recognizes diversity as the strength and driving force behind human civilization.
Also speaking at the event, the Head of the Department of Public Relations and Advertising of the St. Augustine University of Tanzania, and the Executive Director of the East African Research Center for a Community with Shared Future in Tanzania, Dr. David Haruna Mrisho stressed the remarkable economic growth, lifting millions out of poverty and meeting major international development goals achieved by China over the past four decades, which have been contributing significantly to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. He stresses that Africa could learn from these experiences in China
At the same time, Prof. Swaran Singh, former Chair of the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University (New Delhi), commended President Xi Jinping for his ideas for the Global Development Initiative and Belt and Road Initiative, which he said, has been matching the UN Sustainable Development Goals for 2030.
He referenced China’s proven record in eliminating acute poverty and its global recognition as a middle-income country since 2016 and also its rise as the world’s largest trading nation, as major successes for President Xi and China, adding that, he appreciate the new ideas and experiences brought by China by seeing the importance of building a community with shared future to achieve sustainable development.
Adding to the voices of multiple speakers at the event, Prof. Carlos Aquino Rodriguez who is the Director of the Center for Asian Studies, National University of San Marcos, and Director of the Research Center for a Community with Shared Future and BRI in Peru noted that to have sustained development, three major points must be applied.
He recommended the continuous flow of international trade among nations, which he said, will boost multilateralism, the avoidance of unilateralism, and the improvement of cooperation among developing countries. Making her contribution during the forum, Dr. Du Juan, Director of the Master of Intercultural and International Communication Program at the Royal University of Canada, explained “Organizational Community Resilience and Sustainable Development” from a localized perspective.
Dr. Juan further elaborated on the internal correlation and interactive relationship around the possible theories of community resilience and sustainable development, which she said is of positive significance to the discussion and practice of building a community with a shared future for mankind.
At the same time, Mr. Khalid Temur Akram, Executive Director of the Pakistan Research Center for a Community of Shared Future for Mankind, delivered a speech on the theme of “Building an Inclusive Development Module under the Concept of a Community of Shared Future”. Mr. Akram emphasized that the concept of a human community with a shared future proposed by General Secretary Xi Jinping brings new solutions to the above-mentioned problems faced by the world, and plans a common future development path for mankind from a holistic perspective, which he said, will help all countries in the world to cope with the common crisis. and challenges.
Liu Fenghai, vice Dean of ICSF at the Communication University of China, Chaired the second session of the scholar Forum. At the closing ceremony of the forum, Professor Wang Shixin, vice Dean of ICSF at the Communication University of China, delivered closing remarks.
The world is undergoing unprecedented changes in a century. COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, food problems, energy crisis, war and conflict have brought many challenges to the world.” International Think Tank Forum on a Community with a Shared Future for Manity (2022)” is an annual series of international top academic activities initiated by the Institute for a Community with Shared Future at the Communication University of China. About 80 participants from around the world attended the online forum.
