She said, as the ancient Chinese saying goes, “Gentlemen seek harmony but not uniformity” — countries with different cultures and civilizations can build a harmonious relationship with each other as long as they adopt an attitude of openness, inclusiveness and tolerance.

Wu Hailong, president of the Chinese People’s Institute of Foreign Affairs, said cultural dialogue is a major way to enhance mutual understanding, especially when the world is faced with a complex situation. We will have a more beautiful, vibrant and lively world through cultural exchanges, Wu said.

“Nowadays, problems such as unilateralism, protectionism, populism and ‘me first’ are making people worry,” he said.

Wu added that only mutual respect, equality, and shared destiny can lead to prosperity for human society and human civilization.

Zhou Shuchun, publisher and editor-in-chief of China Daily, said the world is faced with uncertainty and volatility, with unprecedented problems and challenges, and the global community has to make a crucial choice that will have a great impact on world development and humanity’s future.

“The media should play a special role in strengthening understanding, friendship and cooperation among peoples, and facilitating exchanges and mutual learning among different cultures and civilizations, for the world to go in the right direction,” he said.

Zhou said the media should be the facilitator of civilization communication, builder of world peace and development, and ambassador of Chinese civilization.

Altynai Omurbekova, vice-prime minister of Kyrgyzstan, said dialogue among civilizations contributes to strengthening the awareness of the values that people share regardless of our race, gender, language or religion.

Former Polish president Bronislaw Komorowski said, “Dialogue is the way to protect spiritual and cultural values and to respect the diversity of faith, culture and language.”

Essam Sharaf, former prime minister of Egypt, agreed that damage to humanity and nature that the world is experiencing is a legitimate reason for global harmony.

“We in the developing countries look to China, with its large and influential international weight, with great hope for supporting our development and in promoting peace and security at the global level,” he said.

Sharaf said he thinks that fulfilling the dream of global harmony is an extremely difficult task, but difficulty is beautiful.

The forum has attracted nearly 1,000 politicians, entrepreneurs, scholars and cultural notables from about 40 countries and regions to share ideas and learn from each other, contributing collective wisdom to the development of universal civilization.