The distance traversed by the Chinese people, from the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949 to the present, is significant indeed. The scale of development and number of those whose living conditions have been tangibly raised has few historical equivalents. Equally notable are the social questions that have been, and are still today being navigated. How does a society choose which elements of traditional culture contribute to the common good and should be retained, and which are detrimental and should be allowed to fall away? How can the economic conditions of a people be steadily raised without becoming forgetful of the many non-monetary aspects of human well-being? These are questions that every country faces. And as it seeks insights into such dynamics, China has the opportunity to exercise not only economic leadership, but social, moral, and humanitarian leadership as well.In walking its own path of development, China can give conscious attention to assisting other nations and cultures to achieve the greatness which might be theirs, in the context of an emerging global civilization. Such an outward looking orientation is indispensable, for efforts to construct a growing community around a vision of a shared future for humanity can never be the provenance of one country alone. At the heart of such efforts is a grand project that has long been the dream of Chinese society and many others as well: a rational global order that connects all the peoples of the world in peace, justice, respect, and affection. Considering the development of the Chinese nation within such an all-encompassing framework is commendable indeed, and the Baha’i International Community is pleased to join an exploration of how this ideal resonantes in different cultures, civilizations and religions around the world, however it might be expressed.The features of China’s path of development over the past 70 years are numerous, but four stand out as particularly worthy of consideration. First, there is a notable level of cohesion in the machinery of Chinese governance. Many systems of governance are grounded in patterns of internal competition and confrontation, in-fighting, and the conflicting interests inherent in check-and-balance modes of social organization. Such systems, while designed to prevent the abuse of power and over-concentration of authority, can fall prey to fragmentation and incoherence. The cohesion of the Chinese model allows action, when agreed upon, to be taken decisively and with resolve.Second, governance in China tends to be based on models of consultation and collective decision-making, rather than competition and confrontation. Of course no nation is entirely free from the tendency to advance some interests at the expense of others. Yet China’s affinity for collective vision and action is, itself, conducive to fostering social harmony and cohesion. And when arising within a context of justice and respect, that harmony is both a driver and an outcome of authentic development.Third, Chinese culture has long placed great importance on advancing the common good and ensuring the well-being of the collective. Reciprocal connections between the good of the part and the good of the whole are necessary for the healthy advancement of any society. Central to China’s path of development has been an exploration of how individual flourishing can be realized through fulfillment of the collective interest.Finally, building increasing unity of thought and understanding among Chinese citizens has been a point of emphasis. This has been an explicit objective of the government, with officials at various levels taking part in officially organized studies, conferences, tours, and dialogues. Of course, for unity of thought to be beneficial, it must be an expression of the aspirations of a population responding to its own realities and possibilities, and not the product of external imposition. But to the degree that people’s genuine aspirations are truly aligned with one another, unity is one of the most powerful drivers of lasting and transformative progress.These factors have contributed to progress in various areas, not the least of which being economic development. Within the context of the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals, to take one example, some 470 million individuals were lifted out of extreme poverty between 1990 and 2005. Yet welcome as these steps were, the Chinese development experience reinforces one central truth as emphatically as the Western one did: that material advancement alone, unmoored from spiritual and moral foundations, is not only unsustainable, but ultimately illusory. It can be seen that even the most technologically and economically advanced countries of the world today, whether of the East or the West, are being assailed by destructive social forces such as materialism, self-interest, and prejudice. These, in turn, are associated with a multitude of social ills, ranging from poverty and crime to corruption and hypocrisy, deterioration of the natural world to disintegration of the social fabric, conflict and hostility to alienation and indifference.Chinese culture has long upheld the importance of good character and moral virtue in the conduct of human relationships, rather than assuming social life to be nothing more than an arena for economic transaction. The Chinese experience has been one of seeking to find the right relationship among personal moral betterment, economic development, and social transformation, without choosing one to the exclusion of the others. This has provided the Chinese people with a measure of protection from certain forms of excess. Yet to uphold high ideals and to become their embodiment are not one and the same. It is only to their credit, then, that many Chinese are seeking to build ever greater coherence between stated ideals and the lived realities experienced by so many at the local level.As China strives for ever more holistic models of development, fundamental questions increasingly assert themselves. What is the purpose of development and what patterns of life lead to true satisfaction and fulfillment? What relationships with the natural environment are needed to ensure individual and collective flourishing? How are new technologies to be approached thoughtfully and their social impacts consciously chosen and managed? How are different cultures to not only coexist, but collaborate in building new patterns of life better for all? Questions such as these will take on greater significance in the days ahead. And insights that are gained through the ongoing efforts of the Chinese people will be of benefit and relevance to populations around the world.To speak of a community with a shared future for mankind is to acknowledge the many pragmatic ties that increasingly link the lives of the people of the world. But beyond this, to speak of a shared global future is to acknowledge that the human is one family. For Baha’is, the oneness of human is the defining feature of the current stage of social evolution. “Ye are the fruits of one tree and the leaves of one branch,” wrote Baha’u’llah in the 19th century. In an age of intense political division and rivalry, he declared, “The Earth is but one country and mankind its citizens.”The premise that humanity constitutes a single people finds wide acceptance at the level of principle. Indeed, people around the world—particularly the young—increasingly cry out for societies that are more unified, just, and civil. Diverse populations are mixing on unprecedented scales and the world grows more interconnected and interdependent by the day. Yet dominant currents in societies everywhere are pushing people apart, not pulling them together. As the world governing body of the Baha’i Faith, the Universal House of Justice, recently wrote:Humanity is gripped by a crisis of identity, as various peoples and groups struggle to define themselves, their place in the world, and how they should act. Without a vision of shared identity and common purpose, they fall into competing ideologies and power struggles. Seemingly countless permutations of “us” and “them” define group identities ever more narrowly and in contrast to one another. Over time, this splintering into divergent interest groups has weakened the cohesion of society itself.These challenges demonstrate that movement toward a truly shared future will require increasing unity of thought, action, and purpose at every level. Social institutions need to foster a sense of shared identity and common purpose among the population. Similarly, they must unequivocally renounce the practice of stoking racial, religious, or other tensions for political gain. Communities need to foster a culture of universal participation in the affairs and decisions of society, and actively include groups that were excluded in the past. And individuals, honestly searching the depths of their own heart and conscience, need to continually expand the bounds of friendship and bring to bear the moral courage necessary to dismantle prejudice and bigotry in every form they may take.It should be noted that the diversity of the human family, far from contradicting its oneness, endows it with richness. From this perspective, unity contains within it the essential concept of diversity. Indeed, this is what distinguishes it from uniformity. Equally crucial is a robust and authentic orientation towards justice. For without an unbending commitment to justice, calls to unity can become another guise for oppression and tyranny.This anniversary year affords an occasion to review progress that has been made, and to identify opportunities for further advancement. It also provides a moment for the Chinese people—young and old, women and men, humble and wealthy, laborers and leaders—to explore how the endowments unique to their particular history and culture might best contribute to a flourishing global civilization. Given the influence that they are to exert on the destiny of humanity, this is an important discussion indeed. The Chinese people are highly praised in the Baha’i writings. To them, one of the early leaders of the Baha’i Faith referred as “truth-seeking” and “prompted with ideal motives.” From among them, he declared, can be raised “such divine personages that each one of them may become the bright candle of the world of humanity”. May these capacities be released in fuller and fuller measure, and may China set an example to follow in providing for the well-being and advancement of all members of the human family.