As Beijing greets us with a riot of brilliantly-colored flowers in May, the long-awaited meeting on mutual learning and exchanges of civilizations is convened as scheduled. Asian friends come together to discuss the common historical genes of Asian civilizations, seek the basis for the coordinated development of different countries, and review the cultural logic behind the win-win cooperation among sovereign countries. This will lay a solid ideological foundation for building a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind.President Xi Jinping has noted on many occasions that inter-civilization exchanges and mutual learning foster an important drive for human progress and global peace and development. Asia is the cradle of the Mesopotamian civilization in West Asia, Chinese civilization in East Asia, and the Indian civilization in South Asia. These distinctive civilizations have made an enormous contribution to the development of world civilizations. As civilizations grow from mutual learning, I would like to share and discuss with you the essence of Chinese civilization.- Chinese civilization emphasizes that all countries live in harmony. Chinese civilization has embraced a broad global vision since ancient times. It pursues peace and harmony in the world and advocates openness, inclusiveness, diversity, and equality. There could be “one world with different civilizations” and “one civilization with different systems” as well as “one system with different models” and “one country with different cultures.” A man of virtues seeks harmony without uniformity. Such inclusiveness is of profound significance to good global governance, conflict prevention, and peace.- Chinese civilization puts people first and highlight benevolence and virtues. Mencius called “subduing people by virtue” the way of a king and “subduing people by force” the way of a hegemon. Chinese civilization values virtue and opposes the use of force. The man of perfect virtue, wishing to be established himself, also seeks to establish others and to wish to be enlarged himself, also seeks to enlarge others. “Do not do unto others what you don’t want others to do unto you.” Helping others is helping yourself. Chinese civilization underscores the unity of individual and collective responsibilities. One should practice self-cultivation and self-discipline within and propriety and righteousness without. This concept of working selflessly in the interest of equity and justice in the world enables all countries to go beyond the national interests to serve the whole international community.- Chinese civilization emphasizes reciprocity and righteousness before interests. In foreign relations, the Chinese nation underlines reciprocity, righteousness, and comity, giving full consideration to other’s feelings and interests. Be it the external exchanges in ancient times, or the support for developing countries nowadays, both epitomize the principle of putting righteousness first. Benevolence, righteousness, humanism, honesty, trust, unity, and harmony. These notions help to advance the reform of the global governance system, create global public goods jointly, and foster the common prosperity of the world.- Chinese civilization underscores the doctrine of the mean and harmonious coexistence. Chinese civilization advocates moderation in all things and never acting in excess. In this way, we can strike a balance between “the golden mean” and “harmony” and achieve interaction between Yin and Yang, the order in heaven and earth, the prosperity of all living things, and harmony among people. In the face of populism, extreme nationalism, closed protectionism and polarized globalization, only by upholding the doctrine of the mean can we move towards harmony and resolve conflicts.Openness and inclusiveness, mutual learning, mutual respect, and equal exchanges are fundamental to understanding and handling relations between different civilizations. The key to the peaceful and friendly coexistence of different civilizations lies in seeking and expanding common value. “Common ground” outweighs “differences” when it comes to the views on survival and development, peace and war, joys and sorrows, friendship and love. Different civilizations are in the same pursuit of truth, goodness, and beauty as well as identical or similar values and aspirations. In an increasingly globalized world, it is all the more important for Asian and world civilizations to seek common ground while shelving differences, accommodate each other, expand common ground, and enhance “empathy.”- We must respect the differences among different civilizations and uphold the common ground. In the long history of development, various civilizations have formed their own characteristics. However, these dissimilarities do not overshadow similarities. All civilizations, Eastern or Western ones, actually have many things in common.China is the country of poetry. Persia has four world-famous deans of poetry. India has Kalidasa and Tagore. Arabia has Abu Nuwas and Al-Mutanabbi. Respecting the diversity, seeking “common ground” and “connections,” and promoting common value among civilizations constitute the basis for lasting peace and development of the world.- We must respect the complementarity and share the achievements of different civilizations. These fruits that we enjoy today come from the efforts of various civilizations to draw on each other’s strengths and learn from each other. In the long course of history, civilizations have always advanced through integration and complementarity. None have stood out from others. We should respect the complementarity of diverse civilizations. We should be confident and modest and show an open mind and tolerance with a sense of dignity and inclusiveness. In this way, we will command respect by respecting our counterparts and encourage coexistence, complementarity, and the sharing of achievements.- We must respect the regularity of development and the creativity of prosperity. Almost all civilizations have ever experienced ups and downs. At present, economic globalization is making headway in twists and turns. It is a common vision for different civilizations to seek new glory. We should follow the objective law of civilization development and deal with the relationship between our civilization and foreign ones rationally, without arrogance or self-pity. To enhance our self-confidence and self-consciousness, we should be capable of viewing our own country from the perspective of the outside world, and vice versa to simulate the rebirth and revival of traditional civilizations in modern times.At the summit marking the 70th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations, President Xi Jinping elaborated on the idea of building a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind and noted that “peace, development, equity, justice, democracy and freedom are the common values of all mankind.” This proposal is being accepted by more and more countries. In the face of a colorful world and various civilizations, we must continue to transcend national, regional, and ethnic limitations to depict a better future for mankind jointly. In a world of diversity, we need to seek values that serve the common interests of all mankind. We need to seek uniformity in diversity and common ground in differences.Asia is our home. We all have confidence in the land where we are brought up and have high expectations for the future of mankind. All civilizations should contribute their wisdom and value to building a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind.Han Yu, an outstanding poet of the Tang Dynasty, once wrote, “the pomegranate flowers shine brightly in May, newborn fruits start to grow on the branches.” The Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations, like the bright pomegranate flower in May, will surely be heavy with fruits of mutual learning and harmony. Let’s write a song with a resonant tune together and work to build a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind.Translated by Mo Hao