PR93594

GUANGZHOU, China, Dec. 9, 2021 /Xinhua=KYODO JBN/--

Themed "Whence and Whither -- Unprecedented Changes in the World and China and

the CPC", 2021 Understanding China Conference (Guangzhou), scheduled from Dec.

1 to 4 in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, has attracted nearly 80

celebrated figures from the global political, academic and economic

communities.

A total of 12 successive parallel forums were held as a way of encouraging a

vigorous exchange of global minds, with a focus on how to offer a more

permanent solution to the pressing challenges and grave risks the world is

facing.

"Because we are confronting huge global challenges that require global

solutions from the cooperation we need on climate change and addressing global

financial instability to the cooperation now required to eradicate global

poverty, protectionism, nuclear proliferation and pandemics," said former

British prime minister James Gordon Brown.

Martin Jacques, a visiting professor at Tsinghua University, said the success

of the CPC lies in its ability to demonstrate and elucidate the Chinese

civilization. He added that the Party's development has undergone a prolonged

process, rather than an overnight sensation, and it has improved itself through

constant reforms.

Alex Wang, a professor and co-director at the Emmett Institute on Climate

Change and the Environment at the University of California, Los Angeles, said

China has a lot of experience in areas such as solar power, electric vehicles

and batteries, and cooperation can help both China and the world in improving

sharing and the acceleration of action on the climate.

"Cooperation" is the most urgent and strongest call in the conference. This can

be seen in topics like cooperation on COVID-19, the layout of global industrial

chains, the realization of the goal of carbon neutrality and emission peak,

worldwide infrastructure development and connectivity, and the alignment of the

international business environment.

Addressing the international conference via video link, Pascal Lamy, former

director-general of the World Trade Organization, pointed out that the vaccine

gap, digital divide, carbon emissions gap and wealth disparity still pose

severe challenges and risks to global peace and development.

He said that, if the assessment of these various risks and challenges is

correct, then there is no choice but to address them by working together even

harder.

Attendees of the event widely echoed the view and called for more international

cooperation.

This is the third time Guangzhou has played host to the grand event. And not

long ago, the dynamic southern Chinese city saw the opening of an unprecedented

international trade fair (Canton Fair) held online and offline that drew

hundreds of thousands of overseas buyers and an impressive award ceremony of

the Guangzhou International Award for Urban Innovation. All these elements that

a host of exciting events brought to the historic city have just made it all

the more diverse and dynamic.

Source: 2021 Understanding China Conference (Guangzhou)