Qian Hongshan, Vice Minister of the United Nations General Office (Photo by Weng Qiyu, reporter of People's Daily)

The 2018 "Belt and Road" Media Cooperation Forum jointly sponsored by People's Daily, Hainan Provincial Party Committee and Provincial Government was grandly held in Boao, Hainan today. 256 guests from 90 countries and international organizations, 205 media and institutions gathered together to discuss media cooperation plans and discuss the vision of the "Belt and Road". Qian Hongshan, Vice Minister of the United Nations General Office, gave a keynote speech at the opening ceremony. The following is the full text:

Dear Vice Chairman Ji Bingxuan, dear guests, ladies and gentlemen, and friends, hello everyone! I am very happy to attend the "Belt and Road Media Cooperation Forum". On behalf of the Foreign Liaison Department of the CPC Central Committee, I would like to extend my sincere greetings to the representatives attending this forum and extend my warm congratulations to the convening of this forum!

The Belt and Road Media Cooperation Forum has been held since 2014 and has been held for five consecutive sessions so far. Over the past five years, the forum has continuously innovated the concept of cooperation, enriched the connotation of cooperation, expanded the scope of cooperation, and achieved a series of important results. It not only provides an effective platform for exchanges and mutual learning for media and political, business and academic circles in various countries, enhances the understanding between countries and peoples along the route, but also gathers a powerful force for jointly building the "Belt and Road" through the link of pragmatic cooperation, and effectively promotes the construction of the "Belt and Road".

Ladies and gentlemen, friends! Two thousand years ago, camels and bells were heard and boats were facing each other. The ancient Silk Road connected the glory and civilization of the Asian and European continents. In 2013, against the backdrop of a difficult recovery of the global economy, Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed the "Belt and Road" initiative in accordance with the international trend, and the Millennium Silk Road was revitalized. The Belt and Road Initiative adapts to the economic development needs of countries along the route, promotes mutually beneficial cooperation between regions, strengthens civil exchanges among countries, and brings tangible benefits to the people of all countries.

The "Belt and Road" is a Chinese solution to practice the concept of a community with a shared future for mankind. The so-called community with a shared future for mankind means that all nations and countries should share honors through thick and thin, and strive to build the planet where we were born and raised into a harmonious family, and turn the yearning for a better life of people from all countries in the world into reality. In his keynote speech at the High-Level Dialogue between the Communist Party of China and the World Political Parties, General Secretary Xi Jinping called on us to strive to build a world away from fear and universal security, a world away from poverty and common prosperity, a world away from closed, open and inclusive, and a world with beautiful mountains and rivers and clean and beautiful. To realize our great dream, we should have lofty ambitions and courage to take responsibility, focus on our country and the world, focus on the overall situation and the long-term, and consciously shoulder the mission of the times. We should persevere and make continuous efforts. We should not give up our dreams because of the complexity of reality, nor should we give up our pursuit because of the distant ideals.

Ladies, gentlemen, friends! The media is a bridge to communicate the soul and a watcher of society. It guides public opinion, clarifies fallacies, boosts morale, and unites the people, and plays an important role in social operation. The media can also connect China and foreign countries and communicate with the world. It is the bond of emotional exchanges among peoples in countries along the "Belt and Road". In recent years, the news and media industry have flourished around the world, especially in the current Internet era, the development of new media is changing with each passing day, with great influence on social public opinion and the public, and has truly risen to become the fourth largest force outside legislation, administration and justice. The media has great potential in jointly building the "Belt and Road". We must be witnesses of the achievements of the Silk Road, advocates of the Silk Road spirit, and disseminators of the Silk Road culture. Deepen communication and understanding, build consensus, enhance mutual trust, lay a solid foundation for the mutual understanding of the people in the "Belt and Road" and write a new chapter for building a community with a shared future for mankind.

The Foreign Liaison Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China is a functional department dedicated to foreign exchanges. At present, the Communist Party of China maintains regular contacts with more than 400 political parties and political organizations in more than 160 countries and regions, and maintains friendly contacts with the major political parties, think tanks and media from the country where all friends here come from. In recent years, the Ministry of the CPC Central Committee has done a lot of work in the "Belt and Road" to connect people with the people in the "Belt and Road" by strengthening exchanges with political parties, think tanks, media and non-governmental organizations in countries along the route. In December last year, the "High-level Dialogue between the Communist Party of China and the World Political Parties" was hosted, and a high-end political dialogue platform was built for more than 300 political parties and political organizations from more than 120 countries. General Secretary Xi Jinping attended the opening ceremony and delivered an important keynote speech, calling on political parties of all countries to actively participate in supporting the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" initiative and promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind. In recent years, our department has also held parallel theme meetings on "Enhance the People's Heart Connection" under the framework of the "Belt and Road" International Think Tank Forum and the "Belt and Road" International Cooperation Summit Forum, organized media seminars and inspection activities of "Silk Road Under the Blade", received a large number of politicians, think tanks and media people from countries along the "Belt and Road", and effectively promoted pragmatic cooperation and mutual understanding between countries along the route.

I believe that this forum is of great significance to promoting the media to play a more important role in the construction of the "Belt and Road". We hope that media from all countries will report on the "Belt and Road" more objectively and comprehensively, sow the seeds of trust and friendship for the people of all countries, narrow the distance between emotions, and write a new chapter for building a community with a shared future for mankind.

Finally, I wish the Belt and Road Media Cooperation Forum a great success and I wish you all a happy time in Hainan. Thank you everyone.