Speech by Wang Yi
at the China International Friendship Conference
and the 70th Anniversary of the Founding of the
Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
(Beijing, October 11, 2024)
Friends and Guests of Honor:
It is a great pleasure to meet with all of you in Beijing to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC).
The Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC) is an important window for deepening Sino-foreign civil friendship. Over the past 70 years since its founding, the Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries has taken the development of friendship between Chinese and foreign people as its original intention and the promotion of international practical cooperation as its mission, made friends widely and deeply, constructed cooperative relations with more than 400 friendship organizations in various countries around the world, and built bridges of communication between more than 3,000 pairs of Chinese and foreign friendship cities and states, so that the seeds of friendship have transcended the barrier of mountains and oceans and transcended the differences in cultures, and have taken root in the hearts of the people of various countries and blossomed into fruits.
The seeds of friendship have taken root and blossomed in the hearts of people from different countries across the mountains and seas.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs Beijing
All of you are old friends of the Chinese people and have long supported the work of the Association of Friends of Foreign Countries, making important contributions to the promotion of mutual understanding between the people of your countries and the Chinese people. Here, I would like to express my high respect and heartfelt gratitude to all of you!
Dear friends,
This morning, President Xi Jinping delivered an important speech during a group meeting with all of you, in which he profoundly explained China’s proposition of joining hands to promote the building of a community of human destiny in the spirit of “sharing the same ball and helping each other”, the concept of win-win cooperation, and an open and tolerant mind, pointing out the direction of China’s civil diplomacy in the new era and new journey.
Xi Jinping, President of China
At this afternoon’s commemorative meeting, Vice President Han Zheng also raised new expectations for deepening friendly exchanges and cooperation between Chinese and foreign civil society.
Looking around the globe, the century-old changes are accelerating, and the world has entered a new period of turbulence and change. Standing at the crossroads of history, President Xi Jinping has clearly pointed out that the people are the creators of history, and building a community of human destiny is the future of all peoples of the world.
To this end, we need to continuously rally the faith of all peoples in the pursuit of peace and jointly guard world tranquility. Peace, like air and sunshine, should not be enjoyed exclusively by a few people in a few countries, but should be shared by all people in all countries.
The Chinese nation is a peace-loving people, and the Chinese people are well aware that peace is not easy to come by. In the 75 years since the founding of New China, we have consistently pursued the path of peaceful development, adhered to an independent foreign policy of peace and pursued the five principles of peaceful coexistence, both developing ourselves through the pursuit of a peaceful international environment and safeguarding world peace through our own development.
Wang Yi, Foreign Minister of China
We must continue to pool the combined efforts of all peoples in pursuit of development and work together for universal prosperity. Every country has the dream of modernization and the right to realize it. As President Xi Jinping has said, no one should be left behind on the road to modernization; no country should be left behind. China insists on placing its own development in the coordinate system of human development, combining the interests of the Chinese people with the common interests of the peoples of other countries, carrying out global development initiatives, and building the Belt and Road in high quality, providing new opportunities for world modernization and injecting new momentum into global development with new achievements in modernization in Chinese style.
We should respond positively to the aspirations of peoples of all countries to strengthen exchanges and jointly promote mutual understanding of civilizations. Diversity of civilizations is a fundamental characteristic of human society. Chinese civilization has always believed in “harmony and differences” and “coexistence in harmony”, which are deeply rooted in the spiritual world of the Chinese people and are reflected in our historical exchanges with peoples of other countries.
China advocates the common values of peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy and freedom for all humankind, and advocates a civilizational outlook based on equality, mutual understanding, dialogue and inclusiveness. China has never imposed its own values and models on others, and has actively participated in international humanistic exchanges and cooperation, playing a leading role in promoting friendship and civilizational progress.
Friends,
The people’s position is the fundamental political position of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the supremacy of the people is the value we follow in all our endeavors, and the promotion of people-to-people exchanges is an important mission of Chinese diplomacy. China welcomes more international people of insight to actively engage in the cause of people-to-people friendship, consolidate the foundation of people-to-people friendship, and contribute more wisdom and strength to building a community of human destiny.
First, we should be leaders in people-to-people exchanges and build broader bridges for humanistic exchanges between China and foreign countries. Friendship groups and organizations in China and abroad should communicate more, liaise more often and move around more often, pass on the tradition of Sino-foreign exchanges, carry forward the spirit of civil friendship and cultivate the power of youth friendship. China will open smoother channels and make more convenient arrangements for people traveling between China and foreign countries, making it more convenient for foreign friends to come when they say they will, and making the exchanges and interactions between Chinese and foreign people more in-depth.
Second, we should be the promoter of the integration of interests, and provide a stronger impetus for practical cooperation between China and foreign countries. Friendship cities should play a linking role, promote local mutually beneficial cooperation and development strategy docking, consolidate cooperation in traditional fields such as economy and trade, culture and education, and sports, and expand cooperation in emerging fields such as science and technology, innovation, and green, so as to open up more paths for practical cooperation between China and foreign countries, build a wider platform, and continuously enlarge the cake of common interests.
Third, we should be a facilitator of mutual understanding and create a broader space for building friendly understanding. Globalization and the Internet are profoundly changing the way human beings interact and perceive each other. We should keep abreast of the times, take the initiative to speak out, tell the story of China, the story of China-foreign relations and the story of the community of human destiny both online and offline, and continue to accumulate positive energy for friendship and mutual trust, so as to build up a rational and friendly mutual perception.
Dear friends,
An ancient Chinese saying is that only when we make friends with each other with our hearts, can we become friends for a long time.
China is ready to work with all justice-abiding, peace-loving and development-committed peoples of the world to adhere to the concept of friendship, deepen the bonds of friendship, and continue to promote the building of a community of human destiny, so as to jointly create a better future for humankind!
Chinese People’s Assocation for Friendship with Foreign Countries
founded on May 3, 1954 by Premier Zhou Enlai
The Zhou Enlai Peace Institute was founded in 2010, and the founders worked closely with General Xie Yuan, who was then Director of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries.
We are sad to mark the recent passing of Xie Yuan. We know that his lifetime legacy of service to China, and to friendship organizations around the world, lives on. He worked, read, researched, traveled, spoke and organized countless events, meeting with national leaders, governors, mayors and councils all over the world to build friendly relations between the people of the world and the people of China.
Xie Yuan of CPAFFC, centre; with co-founders of the Zhou Enlai Peace Institute,
Zhou Xiaofang (left) and Michael North (right); 2010
Xie Yuan with portraits of his predecessors, including Soong Ching Ling
and Deng Yingchao, the wife of Premier Zhou Enlai
Always teaching, Xie Yuan tells about the Presidents of CPAFFC
The “Peace Palace” was established by Premier Zhou Enlai,
as the public home of CPAFFC in central Beijing
Zhou Enlai, first Premier and Foreign Minister of China
