2020 Taihe Civilizations Forum concludes, calls for joint efforts to overcome difficulties

The 2020 Taihe Civilizations Forum concluded on September 12. During the seven-day forum, more than 130 leading experts and scholars from China and abroad participated in the four sub-sessions - International Relations, Education and Culture, Advanced Technology, and Youth Dialogue - sharing views on harmonious and sustainable development and enhancing mutual understanding through listening and explaining.

In the sub-session on International Relations, participants held discussions under the theme “China-U.S. Relations and the Impacts on the World”, and reached six consensuses.

First, China-U.S. relations, as the most important bilateral relationship in the world, are critical to the well-being of the two countries and the rest of the world, and affect global peace and stability.

Second, conflicts between China and the U.S. are a disaster for both countries and the entire world. This means that measures must be taken to prevent this dangerous situation from arising and to bring China-U.S. relations back to a healthy, stable, and mutually beneficial trajectory.

Third, China and the U.S. should tackle their problems through dialogue. Holding dialogue is the wise choice for resolving differences, the proper way to establish mutual trust, and the optimal method for reducing misjudgment. Without dialogue, no problems can be solved.

Fourth, both China and the U.S. need to take action, control their differences, and handle divergences reasonably, instead of creating or exacerbating these differences. China-U.S. relations need to adhere to a non-confrontational approach, and be conducted in a controlled manner.

Fifth, China and the U.S. should cooperate more, especially in the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic, and promote economic recovery in the post-pandemic era. Cooperation also needs to be conducted on global and regional hotspot issues.

Sixth, we should be more cautious and ensure that China-U.S. relations do not exert a negative influence on third parties, in particular, forcing other countries to choose sides, which is something other countries do not want to be forced to do.

In the sub-session on Education and Culture, guests from China and overseas worked around the theme of “Constructing the spectrum of vocational ability of future talents”. Participants at the forum all agreed that vocational qualification frameworks were commonly used in most countries with advanced vocational education systems, and China should also take it as an important direction in its own vocational education reform.

The COVID-19 outbreak and the development of new technology has triggered global economic changes and industrial adjustments, as well as a new round of vocational education reforms. To meet the demands for reform, countries should learn from each other and strengthen cooperation in vocational education. All parties participating in the forum agreed to share information, create cooperative opportunities, and enjoy win-win results in the future.

In the sub-session on Advanced Technology, focusing on the theme of “Maintaining Global Biosecurity with Emerging Technologies and Innovative Mechanisms”, experts and representatives of enterprises working in the fields of biomedicine and biosecurity, digital and information technology, and ethics and governance from China and abroad gathered to take part in in-depth discussions and exchanges.

Experts believe that in order to deal with biosecurity threats and challenges, and improve biosecurity governance capabilities, we should not only leverage the power of science and technology, but also change people’s thinking and behavioral patterns, and address interpersonal relationships as well as the relationship between human beings and nature, in order to address the biosecurity issues human beings are facing through systematic understanding and solutions.

In the Youth Dialogue sub-session, a comprehensive discussion was held among international young talents, focusing on education reform during the pandemic and climate change, which concerns all of humanity. They concluded that the rampant COVID-19 pandemic was a wake-up call to mankind and promoted reforms in various areas through concept innovation and technological development. At this critical moment of a worsening global environment, changing international circumstances, and an accelerated technological revolution, young leaders representing our future should embrace the digital era, work hard, cooperate with one another, and help build a community of shared future for mankind and contribute to the harmonious and healthy development of the world.