Keynote Speeches at The Third "Understanding China" Conference

The third "Understanding China" conference launched discussions around the topic of "comprehensive deepening of reform and new driving force of China's development" on the morning of the 17th. Zheng Bijian, Chairman of CIIDS, Xu Lin, vice minister of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee and director of the State Council Information Office, and former British prime minister Gordon Brown delivered keynote speeches.

Zheng Bijian pointed out that today, on the 40th anniversary of China's reform and opening up, the focus of "Understanding China" falls on "Understanding China that restarts the journey of reform and opening up", and we should realize that China’s re-starting of reform and opening up will bring "new driving force for China's growth" and "new opportunities for global cooperation". He interpreted the restart from three aspects: " Where is the restarting China from? "; where will the restarting China go; how will the restarting China get along with the world. And he cited "China will never seek hegemony in the world" and "China hopes to build the human community of shared interests and the community of shared destiny with peoples of all countries in the world" to answer the question of how China will get along with the world.

Xu Summed up the four inspirations for the success of reform and opening up, and said that China and the world are now more integrated than ever before. China cannot prosper without the world, nor can the world develop without China . To understand China, to know a real, three-dimensional and comprehensive China is not only an important subject, but also a conundrum. In this regard, he suggested that, first, we should look at China from a historical perspective and understand its progressive logic; Second, we need to view China from an objective perspective and understand that China is still a developing country; Third, we need to look at China from a perspective of the future, making clear that, despite the increased factors of instability and uncertainty in the world today, China will remain determined to pursue reform and opening up.

Gordon Brown said that China made an unprecedented achievement in the world over the past 40 years of reform and opening-up by lifting more than 700 million people out of poverty and maintaining rapid economic growth for many years. He believes that the world is now faced with the emergence of unilateralism and protectionism. The process of multilateralism and globalization has encountered some difficulties, which will do great harm to the world. "At any time, only through cooperation can we truly overcome protectionism, and China will play an increasingly important role in this process," said he.

The third "Understanding China" conference was held in Beijing from December 16th to 18th, 2018. It was jointly held by China Institute for Innovation and Development Strategy (CIIDS), Chinese People's Institute of Foreign Affairs, People's Government of Beijing Municipality and the 21st Century Council, an internationally famous think tank--. Besides the theme of "comprehensive deepening of reform and new driving force of China’s development", the topic of "changing international pattern and new opportunities for global cooperation" was also made a theme of the conference. The conference also set up a forum for each topic.