On Nov.23rd, Mr. Li Ruohong, President of CWPF delivered a speech on the symposium hosted by Foreign Affairs Office of Beijing Municipality, sharing his experiences in years of practices of people-to-people diplomacy and bring out new ideas.

The symposium was chaired by Mme. Zhang Qian, Vice-Director-General of Foreign Affairs Office of Beijing Municipality. Mr. Shi Guohui from the International Liaison Department of the Central Committee of the CPC introduced principles of the central government on people-to-people diplomacy. Mr. Zhao Huimin, Director General of Foreign Affairs Office of Beijing Municipality briefed on the general picture of civil diplomacy.

Mr. Li pointed out in his speech that, the Chinese nation is a peace-loving nation. The Chinese culture advocates the ideal of harmony, which has a time-honored history, pursuing the unity of heaven and man as well as benevolence.CWPF and BJIPCF follow the tenet of “inheriting national culture and promoting modern civilization”, dedicate themselves to world peace by promoting friendship between Chinese and foreign people, advancing cooperation in culture, education, sport,health care,etc.as well as setting up a platform for social, economic and cultural exchanges. The “peace+1”mode of public welfare promoted cooperation with international organizations and governments and contributed a lot to political mutual trust, friendly interactions, think tank studies and “bring in and going out”strategy. It supported not only developing countries and vulnerable groups, but also public welfare cause in Beijing.

In terms of improving the work in people-to-people diplomacy under new reality, Mr. Li made his own suggestions. The people-to-people diplomacy has ushered in unprecedented opportunities for development and broader stages. New mechanisms should be established to administrate,support and mobilize civil organizations, so that people-to-people diplomacy can become the channel for public opinions and friendly exchanges.In this way, we can make friends with people of various circles,increasing the soft power of our country. Through overall planning, a matrix of civil organization should be built to coordinate with the government in foreign exchanges. Official and civil diplomacy should complete and support each other with differentiated tasks. Embassies and consulates of China to foreign countries should attach importance to exchange programs held by civil organizations and offer grass root NGOs due support if necessary.　

We should enhance the collaboration of different bodies, establish mechanism for cooperation, exchange information and share resources. Civil activities and projects should rid off official features, basic investigations into our counterparts should be concrete and long-term. Capacity building and talent training in international exchanges should be enhanced. We should be actively involved in rule-making, increase our presence on the international arena and even play a leading role in certain fields.

Civil diplomacy is a long-term mission which requires persistent actions. We must take on the responsibilities of the history and carve out a path to the future with endeavours. We should work hard for the “two 100-year”goals to open up a new chapter for world peace and civil diplomacy.