CPAFFC President Lin Songtian attends Global Youth Conference

Jiang Jing

O n May 13， the Global Youth Conference was held successfully. It was jointly hosted by the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries， the Shandong People’s Government， the All-China Youth Federation and the China Soong Ching Ling Foundation.

At the opening ceremony， Li Bin， vice-chair and secretary-general of the Chinese People’s Political Consulta- tive Conference National Committee and chair of the Soong Ching Ling Foundation， delivered a video speech. Li Ganjie， secretary of the CPC Shandong Committee made a keynote speech. Lin Songtian， president of the CPAFFC， and Fu Zhenbang， secretary of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League of China and vice-president of the AllChina Youth Federation， gave online speeches. Zhou Naixiang， governor of Shandong province， presided over the opening ceremony.

A number of important guests attended the opening ceremony online or sent video remarks， including Aleksandar Vucic， president of Serbia； Taneti Maamau， president of Kiribati； Artem Semenov， member of the Central Committee of the United Russia Party and head of the CPC Liaison Working Group of the party’s Supreme Council； Zhang Ming， secretary-general of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization； Rahamtalla M. Osman， African Union representative to China and representative of diplomatic envoys； Siddharth Chatterjee， United Nations Resident Coordinator in China； and Katja Kruger， vice-president of the Regional Council of Brittany， France， among others.

The conference’s main venue was in Shandong. It had 16 sub-venues —in Beijing and other places at home and abroad. More than 5，000 Chinese and foreign guests from 48 countries and regions attended the conference in person and online， including diplomatic envoys to China， representatives of international friendship cities and international organizations， youth leaders， experts， scholars and media representatives. Focusing on the theme“Vibrant Shandong for shared future”， participants had in-depth exchanges and discussions and unanimously expressed common aspirations for global youth unity and cooperation， sharing opportunities， common development and shared responsibility.

In his speech， Lin noted that Shandong is the hometown of Confucius and Mencius and the cradle of Chinese civilization and Confucianism. It has become a new front-line for high-quality development philosophy. The Confucian culture and Chinese civilization， with“benevolence， righteousness， manners， wisdom and credit” at the core， has been the moral standard and value orientation of the Chinese people. They have also contributed Chinese wisdom to the progress of human civilization. Advocating “peaceful and harmonious co-existence”， “seeking common grounds by shelving differences” and“benefiting all the people in the world”， the Chinese nation deeply understands that peaceful， civilized and common development is the right choice for people of all countries.

Lin said that for more than 40 years China has upheld the concept of peaceful， open and innovative development in a civilized way， having created the two miracles of rapid economic growth and sustained social stability. China has promoted global development through its own development. Faced with profound global changes unseen in a century， he said， President Xi Jinping bears in mind the well-being of the world and proposed a people-centered philosophy of development， the Global Development Initiative， Global Security Initiative， the Belt and Road Initiative and the vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind. These proposals draw a beautiful vision for future development and contribute Chinese wisdom and solutions to the world and gaining global recognition.

Lin noted that people throughout the world crave a good life featuring peace， harmony and affluence. But such a common pursuit is not only spoiled by the raging COVID-19 pandemic as a natural calamity but also by a man-made disaster — the Russia-Ukraine conflict instigated by geopolitics and a Cold War mentality.

He said the Ukraine crisis has severely jeopardized the security of global industrial， supply and capital chains， causing global food， energy and financial crises and leaving the people of the world， especially those in underdeveloped countries， under the threat of production and subsistence crises and famine. It has also severely thwarted developing countries’ efforts to realize sustainable development.

The future of mankind is now at a historic juncture， Lin said， and young people are the hope of a nation and represent the future of the world. The CPAFFC， he said， is ready to work with young friends all over the world in the following aspects：

First， firmly uphold justice and safeguard world peace. Second， remain open and inclusive and promote exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations. Third， keep the whole world in mind while building a community with a shared future for mankind and working to create a better world.

During the conference， Shandong also held the Huanghewan Youth Economic Forum， China and the World in the Eyes of the Youth International Youth Art Exhibition and other activities.