CHINA / DIPLOMACY
Xi extends congratulations to 2024 Imperial Springs International Forum, calls for enhanced exchanges and understanding
China shows utmost sincerity in cooperating with intl community to address global challenges: expert
Published: Dec 12, 2024 10:42 PM
The 2024 Imperial Springs International Forum is held in Madrid, Spain on December 12, 2024. Photo: Wang Wenwen/GT

The 2024 Imperial Springs International Forum is held in Madrid, Spain on December 12, 2024. Photo: Wang Wenwen/GT


Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday sent a congratulatory letter to the 2024 Imperial Springs International Forum held in Madrid, Spain.

Xi pointed out that since its establishment 10 years ago, the forum has adhered to advocating multilateralism, conducted in-depth discussions on global governance issues, actively shared China's propositions, and played a positive role in enhancing exchanges and understanding between China and countries worldwide, Xinhua News Agency reported.

Xi emphasized that in a world marked by intertwined changes and turmoil, peace and development remain the shared aspirations of all peoples.

China stands ready to work with other countries in the spirit of "promoting global solidarity," upholding fairness and justice to safeguard global peace and stability, adhering to win-win cooperation to promote sustainable global development, and committing to inclusiveness and mutual learning to advance human civilization to new heights, Xi said.  

The 2024 Imperial Springs International Forum was held in Madrid, Spain on Wednesday and Thursday under the theme "Collective Action for One Future." 

In his opening remarks, Yang Wanming, president of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, said that facing the future, all parties should take practical actions to strengthen unity and cooperation, work together to respond to global challenges, defend and practice true multilateralism, stand on the right side of history, promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind in the spirit of "promoting global solidarity," and contribute to promoting world peace, stability and prosperity.

Xue Lan, dean of the Schwarzman College, Tsinghua University who was present at the forum, noted that Xi's letter shows that the Chinese government has utmost sincerity in cooperating with the international community to cope with challenges. 

"China has accumulated enough experience to fully understand the problems faced by today's world. The key is consensus and the will to solve the problems. It is easier for countries to make a statement on international occasions, but actions matter the most - that's why the theme of this year's forum is significant," Xue told the Global Times on the sidelines of the forum.

More than 200 participants from the political, academic, and business circles in over 50 countries from Asia, Europe, Africa, America and Oceania, including over 50 former heads of state, heads of government, and leaders of international organizations, and over 90 internationally renowned experts, scholars, and business leaders attended the forum.

Inaugurated in 2014, the Imperial Springs International Forum is now jointly organized by the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, the Australia China Friendship and Exchange Association, the People's Government of Guangdong Province, and World Leadership Alliance-Club de Madrid. 

This year's forum mainly focused on the following topics: global strategic stability, financing for development, enhancing global cooperation, traditional and non-traditional challenges to global security, tackling challenges facing the world economy, United Nations Summit of the Future, the Future of Global Governance, AI and green technology, sustainable development, and people-to-people exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations. 

The Imperial Springs International Forum has been held for eight consecutive sessions, and has become a new type of high-end platform for China to conduct in-depth communication with the rest of the world. 

This year was the first time that the forum has been held abroad. Josipovic, the former president of Croatia, said that this change is significant as it shows the will to cooperate is even more intensive.

Csaba Korosi, a Hungarian diplomat who served as president of the 77th United Nations General Assembly, was also a participant of the forum. He believes that the zero-sum game mentality prevailing in the world is starting to overshadow the necessity of global cooperation on global common goods, and the Imperial Springs International Forum with this year's theme of "Collective Action for One Future" provides an inspiring platform to discuss how countries can tackle it.

"The result is a lose-lose game. So it cannot be an alternative for us. It cannot be an acceptable outcome for us. Our responsibility is the collective action, where we can still have a kind of race, but where we have to find the ways of cooperation," Korosi told the Global Times. 

Maria Fernanda Espinosa, former minister of foreign affairs of Ecuador, told the Global Times that cooperation fits into today's world.

"When you think about the security challenges that the world faces, the conflicts that we are experiencing, the environmental crisis, the crisis of poverty and inequalities, all of these challenges require more cooperation in a multilateral system, and that's what it's all about at the end."

She expressed appreciation for China's efforts to gather global voices.

"China has shown that the voices of the world are important, bringing a community of current and former leaders to discuss the challenges of our times to come up with innovative ideas and solutions. It's really valued," she noted.