21st Century Council Beijing Conference: Consensus with the Chinese leadership

The Beijing Statement of the 21^st Century Council Beijing Conference is as follows:

On the eve of the pivotal Third Plenary Session of 18^th CPC Central Committee, the 21^st Century Council members under the Berggruen Institute on Governance held a three-day conference in Beijing. During the meeting, they held a series of special dialogues with the Chinese top leadership. A total of 40 council members attended the conference, including 11 former dignitaries, as well as renowned scholars and tiptop entrepreneurs from around the world.

 On November 1 (Friday), Premier Li Keqiang delivered a keynote address at the Great Hall of the People to celebrate the opening of the "Understanding China" conference. On the afternoon of November 2 (Saturday), the Council and President Xi had an open, informal and wide-ranging dialogue.

 During the meeting, Chinese leaders expounded the great vision of the Chinese dream, and noted that China is at a new stage of in-depth reform and opening up initiated by Deng Xiaoping, which will last for decades. They stressed that the "people-oriented" reform to be put forward at the forthcoming plenary session will be an "all-inclusive" one involving economic, political, social and ecological domains.

China’s leaders expressed their confidence in the future goal of doubling per capita income between 2010 and 2020 at an annual growth rate of not less than 7 percent. They perceived it to be an accessible goal given the market-oriented structural reform to be proposed at the plenary session coupled with the efforts made in stimulating domestic demand and urbanization.

The Chinese leaders reiterated the success in helping six hundred million people out of poverty through reform and opening up during the past three decades, determined to complete the work by eliminating poverty among the remaining one hundred million in the coming decades.

According to the Chinese leaders, as a developing country, China will continue to defy hegemony in international relations; at the same time, as the world's second largest economy, China is prepared to play a more active role in reshaping the international order.

 The Chinese leaders believe that it is only possible to achieve the Chinese dream for the prosperity of all Chinese people in today's interdependent world. They said China would never reclose its door to the outside. The primary task is to maintain a global order of peace and stability so as to create a win-win situation for the development and people's livelihood of all countries.

 During the conference, the 21^st Century Council also discussed a variety of issues from social media to security policy for the East China Sea.

 In addition to the top leadership speeches, China's State Councilor Yang Jiechi, Minister of the Office of the Central Leading Group on Financial and Economic Affairs Liu He, Deputy Secretary of the CPC Zhejiang Provincial Committee, Governor of Guangdong Province, Secretary of the CPC Yunnan Provincial Committee, and Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Wang Guanzhong also spoke at the conference.

 The 21^st Century Council will continue to enhance the mutual understanding ties between China and the world.

 In his speech at the conference, CIIDS Chairman Zheng Bijian, a crucial member of the Council, cited an old Chinese saying: For friends, what is precious is mutual understanding; for mutual understanding, what is precious is knowing the heart.

 Mr. Zheng concluded the primary consensus between the Chinese leadership and the Council as follows: "We all believe that countries around the world should construct a 'community of interest' based on the expanding 'convergence of interests,' which reflects the trend of the times and development." (The Statement is issued by the committee of conference affairs)