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求同存异 qiutong cunyi

Seeking Common Ground While Shelving Differences

A diplomatic thought put forward by late Premier Zhou Enlai at the first Asian-African summit, also known as the Bandung Conference in Indonesia on April 18-24, 1955. The conference of newly liberated nations aimed to promote Afro-Asian economic and cultural cooperation, oppose colonialism or neocolonialism and consolidate their hard-won independence.

To press ahead with the conference's agenda, which was at the risk of standstill due to political, cultural and ideological differences among participating nations, Premier Zhou raised the idea "seeking common ground while shelving differences". Such a diplomatic ideology has ever since become one of China's guiding principles in foreign relations.

(China Daily 05/05/2009 page8)