What they say

Lasting peace must rest on a complex fabric of interrelated values, attitudes and behaviors, required both in the implementation of international treaties and in the course of daily life, with the practice of respect, tolerance, openness, mutual understanding and dialogue. Today, we must do everything to empower present and future generations with skills to exchange, communicate and cooperate across cultural, religious and national boundaries, to become responsible global citizens in a safer world for all.

Getachew Engida, former UNESCO deputy director-general and co-president of the China-Africa Leadership Development Institute at Tsinghua University

As one of the mega-trends that are shaping the reality of the time, globalization is irreversible across the world, and is good for development in the long run. There is no measurable economy that is able to take full advantage of globalization like China. China would not have been so successful over the past three or four decades if it had not been smart and intelligent enough to take advantage of globalization.

Grzegorz W. Kolodko, director of TIGER, Transformation, Integration and Globalization Economic Research, at Kozminski University, former deputy prime minister and minister of finance of Poland

The "small courtyard with high walls" strategy of the United States has not only failed to stop, but instead spurred the innovative spirit of Chinese enterprises. The wave of technological innovation and revolution in China is slowly on the rise and is poised to erupt suddenly someday.

Yu Yongding, academic member of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences

To meet its development needs, Africa needs the same type of growth that China has experienced over the last 40 years, the type of double-digit growth. To make this happen, the multilateral development banks need to play a much bigger role than what we have seen. There is a huge opportunity to get investors, especially from China, to collaborate and help with technology transfer, skill transfer, and investment in integrating Africa into the global energy value chains.

Hanan Morsy, deputy executive secretary and chief economist of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa

The rise of China is undoubtedly the most important geopolitical development in the last three decades. But there are also countries like India, Indonesia, Brazil and others, and they should not be underestimated. It is extremely important that we (China and India) must pull out of the current downward drift and stabilize relations, because without India and China working together, none of the major transnational challenges, whether it be climate change or terrorism, can be meaningfully addressed.

Ashok K. Kantha, former Indian ambassador to China