Rector Prencipe,
Deputy Rector Marchetti,
Dear students,
My pleasure to meet you all. On behalf of the Chinese Embassy, I’d like to thank Luiss University for having me here.
Upon entering this room, I can feel the energy, vitality and strength of diversity in the air. My colleagues told me that the ACE program is committed to cultivating future leaders with strong awareness, cosmopolitan views and entrepreneurship. I have to say, being able to learn at three top-notch universities in three major capitals is quite something, a rare and precious experience. Speaking of which, in case you don’t know, I graduated from Peking University, very close to Renmin University. I also earned a master’s degree from GWU, and now I am in Italy serving as the Chinese Ambassador. See what we already have in common.
Nowadays China-related topics have become a mainstay in the public discourse, which speaks to the immense interest people have towards China. I am here to offer you some reference points in understanding China, which I hope can be helpful.
First, I’d like to talk about our time-honored and overarching philosophy of valuing harmony and cooperation.
As early as the Roman Kindom period, a famous Chinese philosopher came up with the idea of “four corners of the world co-exist in harmony as one big family”. His name is Confucius. Since then, the philosophy of the international community sharing weal and woe together has been flowing in the veins of the Chinese nation. The essence of the Chinese civilization can be summarized as a pursuit for peace, harmony and coexistence.
The world is home to over 200 countries and regions, inhabited by more than 2,500 ethnic groups and practising various types of religions, with interests intertwined and futures interlocked. It is only natural that different historical and national backgrounds lead to different lifestyles, thus giving birth to different civilizations. Against this backdrop, President Xi Jinping proposed the Global Civilization Initiative, which is deeply rooted in China’s traditional culture, but with a global perspective to promote dialogue among various civilizations. We firmly believe in cultural exchanges over estrangement, mutual-learning over clashes, co-existence over feelings of superiority. This is the philosophical compass with which China positions itself and engages with the rest of the world.
Second, I’ d like to introduce a phrase callled Chinese path to modernization, a path that we find best suit our national conditions.
Finding a right path to development, to put it simply, is like finding a right pair of shoes—only the wearer knows whether the shoes truly fit or not.
By pursuing the Chinese path to modernization, now 1.4 billion Chinese people are leading a better life while taking good care of Mother Earth.
China has been able to feed some 20% of the world’s population with only 9% of the world’s arable land and 6% of its freshwater. And It has done so while lifting almost 100 million rural residents out of poverty over a decade. China has established the world's largest education, social security, and health care systems. It has the world's largest e-commerce market and its middle-income population has passed the 400 million mark;
China is also going green. Since the start of the 21st century, the size of China’s newly-added green coverage has accounted for 25% of the global total. By putting innovation at the driver’s seat for economic growth, investing in new pillar industries like elecric vehicles, lithium-ion batteries and PV cells, China is contributing to the world’s green and low carbon transition. We are trying to serve the world’s stable and sustainable development while pursuing modernization for the Chinese people.
Third, I’d like to highlight China’s determination in opening up, which has benefited both China and the whole world.
My generation, the 1st generation to grow up in the era of reform and opening-up, had the luxury of experiencing many unforgetable transformations. Forty years ago, back in the 1980s and 90s’ China, Coca Cola and KFC were high-end “luxuries”, not that easy to lay your hands on. Now they are household names and go-to products. Italian 3Fs (Fashion, furnition and food) were once “out of reach” and now they are Chinese consumers’ favourites. The same is true for iphones, for Tesla and other international brands.
This policy has also brought immense opportunities to Chinese enterprises. I want to tell you a story about “capital of buttons” in China. It’s a small town in Wenzhou of east China’s Zhejiang province. It produces over 50 billion pieces of buttons on a yearly basis, which are exported to some 30 countries and regions abroad, creating jobs and income for local residents. Success stories of such “hidden champions”, to quote a business term, are abundant in China. They are the Chinese equivalents of Italian SMEs who are small, highly specialized but world-market leaders.
China's reform and opening-up meets its people’s aspirations for a better life. It also meets the global trend toward development. From a poverty-stricken country to a Xiaokang or moderately prosperous society, China achieved the poverty reduction goal of the UN SDGs 10 years ahead of schedule, contributing to over 70% of the poverty reduced worldwide. China has been the largest trader of goods throughout the world for the 7th consecutive year, its average contribution to global economic growth exceeded 30% for several years in a row and is the major trading partner of over 140 countries and regions. China will continue to advance to its opening-up policy, creating more space and opportunities for all to share the “Chinese dividends”.
Dear students,
The ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus once said that one cannot step into the same river twice. Things are always in a state of flux. We are also witnessing unprecedented changes unfolding before our eyes—recurring regional conflicts, weak economic recovery, worsening climate change, and widening development gap. I ask myself and I believe you do too, “What's wrong with the world” “What should we do” ? As a diplomat by profession and lawyer by training, I would like to offer some perspectives.
First, we need to commit ourselves to true multilateralism. The more complex the challenges, the more we need to pool strength and work together. It is like all crew members on board a huge ship need to pitch in to ensure its safe ocean crossing. Facts have repeatedly proven that power politics and even military intervention cannot solve problems, and may even cause new troubles. Only by adhering to multilateralism and engaging in dialogue and cooperation on the basis of equality and mutual respect, can we safeguard common interests and achieve common goals.
The Global Security Initiative proposed by President Xi Jinping calls for all countries to uphold true multilateralism, uphold the international system with the UN at the core, the international order based on international law, and the basic norms guiding international relations founded on the purposes and principles of the UN Charter. To seek certainty in a constantly changing world, the rule of thumb is to discard the zero-sum game mentality and tackle the risks facing all mankind altogether.
Second, we need to commit ourselves to a new type of economic globalization. Nothing can stop globalization from evolving and countries from deepening economic and trade exchanges. In fact, the economic ties among countries have become so intertwined that benefit to one means benefit to all, whereas harm to one means harm to all. It is impossible for countries to retreat to self-isolated “islands”. When it comes to economic and trade standards and rules, we need “mutual accomodation” so as to further liberate and facilitate trade and investment, ensure the stable and unimpeded functioning of global production and supply chains, and keep up the vitality and momentum of global growth.
The Human Development Index has declined for the first time in 30 years. The world's poor population has increased by more than 100 million. Nearly 800 million people live in hunger—In response to the calls for development from countries around the world, especially developing countries, President Xi Jinping proposed the Global Development Initiative, to make economic globalization more open, inclusive, balanced and beneficial to all. We should make the pie of the global economy bigger, and even more importantly, to divide it and share it well.
Third, we need to commit ourselves to green development in response to the worsening climate change. China has pledged to peak CO2 emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060. The gap between the two targets is 30 years. This means that the world's largest developing country will complete the world’s most dramatic reduction in carbon emission intensity, and realize carbon neutrality from carbon peaking in the shortest time in global history. Despite the extremely arduous task, China has been working towards green transformation with a Herculean effort. China’s new energy vehicle production and sales volume is the world’s No.1, and by the end of 2023, the total number of new energy vehicles in China reached 20.41 million units, with newly registered NEVs reaching 7.43 million, accounting for 30.25% of new vehicle registrations, or one in three new cars hitting the road is electric. China has the world's largest renewable power generation system, helping in significant ways to reduce the global generation cost of wind power and photovoltaic power by 60% and 80% respectively.
Fourth, we must promote responsible governance of artificial intelligence. The current round of technological revolution, marked by the rapid advancement of AI technologies, will have an immeasurable and profound impact on the economic globalization and human society. AI governance is a new promising frontier that needs participation and cooperation from all policymakers.
Last month, China and the US held the first inter-governmental dialogue on AI. Also last month, the the European Parliament formally adopted the EU Artificial Intelligence Act, the world’s first and a landmark one in which Italy contributed a significant part. Italy is working on a bill for regulating the development and use of artificial intelligence. On the part of China, it has proposed the Global AI Governance Initiative, and the World Artificial Intelligence Conference, a globally-anticipated AI event, will be held in July in Shanghai. We are willing to work along with all parties to ensure that relevant rules and standards will empower scientific and technological innovation while making AI technologies more secure, reliable, controllable, and equitable, especially looking after the interests of developing countries.
Dear future leaders,
This era of great changes has bestowed upon you important missions. As you grow into future leaders in various sectors, I hope you can make the most of your energy, youth and diverse backgrounds to help shape a better world, a world with less hatred and more love, with the frontiers of human knowledge and capabilities constantly expanded. As one who deeply misses his campus life, I have three suggestions for you.
First, Experience—seeing is believing. While reading books is an important way to know about China, China itslef is an open book. You will find amazing places to visit and hospitable people to make friends with. You will find out for yourself when you have your third year of study in China, and we certainly welcome your families and friends to visit China more often.
Second, Embrace—keep an open mind. “The wider your information radar covers, the better informed you will be. Otherwise, you are bound to be blindfolded”. Gather information from diverse sources, break out of the “cocoon”, and you are in a better position to understand things as they truly are. So, for your daily news input, I suggest you give the Chinese media reports a shot. Or even better, challenge yourself to learn some Chinese. If you truly want to gain a deeper sense of China, voice of China deserves to be heard.
Third, Explore—no stopping at comfort zones. Always remain passionate about learning news things and sharp on the latest technological trends. Nurture your entrepreneurship, never be afraid of starting from scratch or hitting the wall. You will need such fighting spirit and resilience in your future academic and professional life. But never forget, treat every student and everyone around you with sincerity, pass on positive energy, and create some precious and wonderful college memories for you to reflect on later in your life.
Thank you for listening.