By He Yin, People’s Daily
In his 2025 New Year message, Chinese President Xi Jinping reiterated that China will work with all countries to enhance mutual learning among different cultures. This demonstrates China’s wisdom and vision to promote harmonious coexistence among different civilizations, as well as the country’s sense of responsibility in advancing the progress of human civilizations.
The world is in a new period of turbulence and transformation, and global challenges keep emerging. Toachieve peaceful coexistence and harmony among different civilizations remains crucial for addressing common challenges facing humanity.
In the face of rising unilateralism, protectionism and populism, as well as the increasing disputes derived from the differences in cultures and civilizations, China remains committed to promotingexchanges and mutual learning among civilizations, which is a wise choice inspired by the 5,000 years of Chinese civilization.
The prosperity of civilization and human progress will not be possible without enhancing common ground, openness and inclusiveness as well as exchange and mutual learning among civilizations and agreeing to reserve differences. More dialogue means less confrontation, and more inclusiveness means less estrangement.
Xi has made solid efforts to strengthen exchanges and enhance understanding among different civilizations, ensuring that civilizations, diverse in many ways, complement each other and shine brightly together, just like the multicolored pools of China’s Jiuzhaigou and Peru’s Salt Terraces of Maras.
When replying tothe letter from his American friend, Xi pointed out, “For China-U.S. relations to advance, it hinges more on the two peoples.”In a congratulatory letter to the inaugural World Conference of Classics, he emphasized the need to seek wisdom from different civilizations. When drawing blueprints for BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and other cooperation mechanisms, he elaborated on people-to-people and cultural exchangesand dialogue on many occasions.
While injecting momentum into exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations, Xi has also provided wisdom and solutions to questions like how countries should get along with each other and how they should make joint efforts to address global challenges.
Civilizations are like water, moistening everything silently. “As an old Chinese saying goes, ‘Passengers in the same boat should help each other.’ Today, as I see it, dwellers of the same planet should help each other,” said Xi. He also encouraged the international community to resolve differences through dialogue and rise above conflicts through cooperation, and build a beautiful world of harmonious coexistence together.
These important proposals reflect the essence of fine traditional Chinese culture and serve as a source of inspiration for humanity to tackle the challenges of the times.
In June 2024, the 78th session of the UN General Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution proposed by China to establish the International Day for Dialogue among Civilizations. This vividly exemplifies China’s solutions and contributions to eliminating prejudices and misunderstanding and enhancing mutual understanding and trust among different civilizations.
Joining hands to advance modernization
To achieve modernization is an important topic in the development of civilizations. Modernization is not “an exclusive patent” of a small handful of countries, nor is it a single answer question. It cannot be realized by a cookie cutter approach or simple “copy and paste.”
Along the path to modernization, China has been working together with other countries to step up the exchange of experience in state governance and national development.
In November 2024, Xi shared with other countries China’s successful story in poverty alleviation when attending the 19th G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
To tackle poverty, China has made targeted policies tailored to each village, each household and each person; helped localities generate growth by fostering industries with distinctive features and upgrading infrastructure, all in light of their own conditions; and promoted common prosperity by pairing up well-off regions with less developed ones. Such experience has drawn great attention worldwide.
From poverty reduction to the fight against corruption, from promoting common prosperity to enhancing ecological conservation, the successful experience of Chinese modernization has become a public good driving the progress of human civilizations.
At the opening ceremony of the 2024 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, China unveiled ten partnership actions for modernization to deepen China-Africa cooperation, of which the Partnership Action for Mutual Learning among Civilizations is in the first place. Under this action, China is ready to work with Africa to build a platform for governance experience sharing.
Many African leaders believe that China stands ready to share its experience with other countries based oncommon values and mutual respect. They said that Africa and China can accelerate the process of industrialization and modernization by learning from each other and drawing on each other’s strengths.
China has always been committed to strengthening exchanges and mutual learning with all countries. Its experience is increasingly viewed by the international community, especially countries of the Global South, as an opportunity and hope for achieving development and progress.
The world is a colorful place and civilizations are diverse. At the crossroads of human civilizations, China stands ready to enhance mutual learning among different cultures together with other countries, to see that different civilizations enrich each other and add to the beauty of the world.
China will also join hands with other countries to bring down cultural barriers on the ground, reject prejudices that stand in the way of human interactions, and eliminate cultural bias that prevents people from engaging with one another, so as to ensure that different civilizations coexist in harmony.
