On Dec. 4, 2019, CGTN Global Media Summit · CCTV + VMF was held in Beijing. Zheng Bijian, Chairman of CIIDs, attended the summit and gave a speech in theme of The Awakening to Understanding China and the World in the New Era, and jointly launched the CGTN Think Tank with Shen Haixiong, the head of CCTV, and other distinguished participants.

In his speech, Chairman Zheng Bijian pointed out that today, "Understanding China" and "Understanding the World" are causes with strong vitality that are in line with the general trend of the times, belonging to China and the world. At the same time, we should understand the relationship between the changing world and the developing China.

Zheng said that CGTN Think Tank, as an open platform for international exchange and dialogue, will be able to build a new international bridge between China and the rest of the world. And this bridge will certainly become an important platform for "Understanding China" and "Understanding the World".

The full text reads in full as follows:

The Awakening to Understanding China and the World in the New Era

Zheng Bijian

December 4, 2019

President Shen Haixiong,

Ladies and gentlemen, friends,

Thank you for inviting me to this great event!  I would like to begin by expressing my warm congratulations on the launch of the CGTN Think Tank and on the opening of the CGTN Media Summit and the Global Video Media Forum.

Let me share with you my five observations.

First, I am deeply impressed with the theme, size and arrangement of the conference and in particular the fantastic speech by Mr. Shen Haixiong.  They all convey your board vision and strong ambition, and also demonstrate a conscious commitment of media professionals to the general public and to history as they take on the challenges of the new era.  This is both about upholding and carrying forward the excellent traditions of the media profession and awakening to the prospect of media development in the new era.

Therefore, I sincerely hope and believe that the CGTN Think Tank, an open platform for international exchange and dialogue, will be able to build a brand new bridge between China and the rest of the world.  And this bridge will certainly become an important platform for "understanding China" and "understanding the world".

Second, "understanding China" is already an imperative of our times.

Amid various challenges and opportunities, China, a country that has endured many hardships in its history, stands at a critical period of national rejuvenation.  We must not only complete the building of a well-off society in all aspects, but also embark on a new journey of building a modern socialist country in an all-round way.

It is around this grand blueprint that the Fourth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee held not long ago set out the overall requirements and goals for the development of the socialist system and our governance capacity.

What does such a grand blueprint, with its supporting institutional building goals, mean to us?

First it means that for a long time to come, China will take as its fundamental task to liberalize and develop productive forces in order to achieve the transformation from high-speed growth to high-quality development and to improve the quality of living for its 1.4 billion to 1.5 billion people.

Second, it means that for a long time to come, China will unswervingly strive to improve its productive force, market strength, scientific and technological competence, innovation ability, national defense capability and cultural power.

Third, it means that we are about to fulfill Deng Xiaoping keen expectations when he said in his Southern Talks in 1992: "I think it will take another 30 years before we can put in place a set of mature and well-developed systems in all aspects."

Forth, it means that we will see a new wave of great rejuvenation of the Chinese civilization surge high in this country.

Fifth, it also means that a new wave of mutually beneficial cooperation between China and the rest of the world will emerge across the globe.

Third, understanding the world has again become an important topic in our times.

The world is undergoing the greatest changes in a century, and the changing landscape features strong duality.  On the one hand,   we are ushering in a new round of economic globalization that is characterized by multi-polarity, integration of the coastal and inland economies, and online-offline interactions of information flows. On the other hand, certain big countries are going against the times by trying to reverse or disrupt economic globalization with bullying or protectionist behaviors.  Therefore, it is inherent in "understanding the world" that we must first distinguish counterproductive actions from constructive actions, and counter currents from the main stream.

We have always acknowledged the great contribution of economic globalization to the development of the world economy after the Second World War.  But at the same time, we have always been soberly aware of the obvious flaws of that round of economic globalization.  The only correct approach to address the weaknesses and problems is to have as many countries as possible to work together to reform the outdated global governance mechanisms and make economic globalization more equitable, inclusive and beneficial to all in its next round of development.

Fourth, to “understand China" and to “understand the world", we must understand the evolving relationship between the changing world and the developing China.

China has made it very clear that our path to modernization is through peaceful development.  To be more specific, this is a path towards modernization that is unseen in the modern history of the world. It requires us to embrace economic globalization rather than disengaging from it and to independently build socialism with Chinese characteristics. To understand the relationship between China and the world, we must first understand the unique path to modernization that China has chosen.

On the road to peaceful rise and development, China will work with more and more countries, especially developing countries, to develop convergence of interests and build communities of interest in various aspects, at multiple levels and in a larger scope, so that we can forge a community of shared future for mankind with our joint efforts. We have not only proposed to the United Nations the "China solution" of "building a community of shared future for mankind on the basis of mutual benefits and win-win cooperation ", but have also worked consistently to achieve this goal in all the international and regional organizations that we participate in. One case in point is the "the Belt and Road Initiative".  Another one is the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP).  With the efforts of its 15 member states including China, negotiations on the text of the agreement and substantive negotiations on market access have been completed. This is a significant breakthrough in creating an East Asian Free Trade Area, which boasts the largest population, the most diversified membership structure and the greatest development potential in the world.

At this point, I would also like to emphasize that to understand China's relationship with the world and to truly understand China, it is imperative to understand the Chinese Communist Party.  A fundamental fact and a basic piece of historical experience in modern China is that only under the leadership of the CPC can China, having gone through so many hardships, truly stand up, break a path to great rejuvenation, and stand at the forefront of global competition for development.

My fifth and last point is to sincerely hope and trust that the CGTN Think Tank, as a media institute, can not only develop guiding ideas to lead the trend, but also play an outstanding role in the process of deepening and expanding the "understanding of China and the world" by bringing together wise people from the world who care about China and the Chinese talents who are internationally-minded.

Understanding China and the world is a viable cause that conforms with the trends of our times. It is a cause for China and also for the whole world. The CGTN Think Tank will certainly help the world to better "understand China" and help China to better "understand the world".

If we are successful in our cause, then it will make both China and the world better off!