(2023.4.29)

Distinguished guests, dear students,

Ladies and gentlemen, 

It is a great pleasure to attend the University of Chicago Graduate China Forum again. I want to thank the Forum for its positive role in promoting people to people exchanges and cooperation between China and the United States over the years. I would also like to extend my warm congratulations on the success of this year’s forum.

The theme of this year's Forum, "Persevering with Diligence, Building with Unity", is timely and appropriate. In recent years, the world has undergone rapid changes, with the far-reaching impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, rising unilateralism and protectionism, a sluggish global economic recovery, frequent regional conflicts and turbulence. At the same time, the aspiration of people worldwide for peace, development and cooperation has never been stronger than it is today. "What kind of world should we build and how to build it?" remains an eternal question that every country must answer well. 

China’s answer to this question is:the Chinese people under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, will adhere to the Chinese path to modernization so as to create a happy life for the Chinese people and promote the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. At the same time, Chinese modernization will provide new opportunities for world development and contribute to the cause of world peace and progress. 

Chinese-style modernization is people-centered and committed to achieving common and shared prosperity and all-round development for its 1.4 billion people. The Chinese government will comprehensively and accurately implement the new development philosophy, adhere to reform and opening up and innovation-driven development, deepen the reform of state-owned enterprises, support the continued growth of the private sector, expand high-level opening-up, continuously ease market access, foster a market-oriented, law-based and internationalized business environment, and accelerating the construction of a new development paradigm, and injecting new drivers and vitality into China's economy, and providing new opportunities and dividends for world development. China will continue to pursue green and low-carbon development and harmony between man and nature, actively respond to global climate change, promote high-level sustainable development, and contribute more to the building of a beautiful China and a beautiful planet.

Chinese modernization adheres to the path of peaceful development. We will continue to work with all countries to build a community with a shared future for mankind. Ten years ago, President Xi Jinping creatively put forward the vital concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind. Over the past decade, the initiative has been transformed from an idea into action, from a vision into reality. We have built a broad international consensus on solidarity and cooperation, gathered strong synergy to address challenges, and opened up bright prospects for a better world. 

All countries are equal members of the global village and belong to a community with a shared future. Only by adhering to mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation can we effectively respond to traditional and non-traditional threats and challenges, maintain common security, and safeguard human well-being. All countries should respect the diversity of world civilizations, treat each other as equals and inclusively, engage in dialogue and exchanges, live in harmony and make common progress. In the face of trade protectionism and unilateralism, all countries should uphold true multilateralism. We should remove barriers, not erect walls. We should open up, not close off. We should seek integration, not decoupling. We should oppose unilateral sanctions and decoupling, endeavor to maintain the stability and smooth operation of the global industrial and supply chains, build an open world economy, and promote all countries' shared prosperity and development.

Chinese modernization will neither tread the old path of colonization and plunder, nor the crooked path taken by some countries to seek hegemony once they grow strong. What China pursues is the right course of peaceful development and win-win cooperation. China firmly opposes the theory of the clash of civilizations and the idea of ideological confrontation. China also firmly opposes hegemonism, power politics, the revival of the Cold War, and world division. A China that is stable and dedicated to development, a China that is down-to-earth and pressing ahead with fortitude, and a China that is confident, open and sharing will surely be a great force for global prosperity, stability and progress.

China and the U.S. are the two largest economies, and major countries with global influence in the world. A healthy and stable China-U.S. relationship is crucial to the future of our two countries and our planet. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations more than 40 years ago, the bilateral relationship has weathered storms and achieved historic accomplishments, bringing tangible benefits to both countries and our two peoples and contributing greatly to world peace, stability and prosperity. However, the current state of the China-U.S. relationship has fallen to a new low, with clouds of misunderstandings and misjudgments still accumulating and the ice of a "new Cold War" still forming. The fundamental problem lies in the severe misperceptions of some people in the United States towards China, who view China as the primary adversary and the biggest geopolitical challenge. This situation does not serve the fundamental interests of both countries and people, nor does it meet the international community's expectations. China and the United States should work together to earnestly implement the critical consensus reached by the leaders of both countries on the development of China-U.S. relations, stick to the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation, and bring China-U.S. relations back to a healthy and stable development track, benefiting both countries and the world.

Dear friends，

We are not alone on the Great Way and the whole world is one family. Our sacred mission in this era is to promote global development and create a better world. Let’s join hands and work diligently to promote exchanges between China and the United States, enhance mutual understanding, friendship, and cooperation between the people of the two countries, and make due contributions to the development of China-US relations and the shared prosperity of all nations.

Thank you.