Speakers advocate 'harmony' as key to global prosperity

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By Zhou Kun and Yang Cheng (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-11-07 08:32

The traditional Chinese philosophy and wisdom "He" (literally "harmony") was the word of the day at yesterday's opening session of the 2009 Beijing Forum.

The traditional Chinese philosophical term, championed by many renowned classical scholars, including Confucius, was frequently invoked by speakers at the event.

In the wake of the global economic crisis, Zhou Qifeng, president of Peking University and a keynote speaker, said the forum should advocate the exploration of solutions in a spirit of harmony from both a theoretical and a practical point of view in a bid to contribute to global peace and development.

Jiang Shusheng, vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China, opened the ceremony and echoed Zhou's sentiments. He said: "It is incumbent upon us to combine an examination of the current crisis and an exploration of a hopefully harmonious future at the forum this year. The traditional insights of Chinese philosophy into 'building harmony' are vital to the world's prosperity."

Joseph Verner Reed, under secretary general of the United Nations, continued the theme, telling delegates that "harmonization" was the only means of meeting global challenges, such as food shortages, climate change and H1N1.

Reed also presented a video message from the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who stressed that the global financial crisis was far from over. He said the total number of those unemployed continued to rise, forcing an additional 100 million people to live in poverty across the world. In light of this, he said, the UN is establishing a global system to monitor the impact of the crisis and has also advocated a trade facilitation regime.

Huang Wei, vice mayor of Beijing, told the forum that the annual academic conference held in the Chinese capital is aimed at promoting trans-cultural exchanges and dialogue among the world's academics.

Huang said: "We are striving to establish an 'environmentally-friendly Beijing, a culturally enriched Beijing and a technology-empowered Beijing'. Our cultural focus, though, remains as the very core of this historic city."

Also present at the opening ceremony were the Vice Minister of Education Hao Ping, former Vice-Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and President of China Society for Human Rights Studies Luo Haocai, Vice Chairman of the SK Group Chey Jae-won, as well as 10 ambassadors and representatives from embassies in China, including South Korean, Brazilian and Mongolian Embassies.

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