“We need China’s own NGOs to become bigger and stronger to coordinate with China’s overseas development,” proposed He Yafei, China’s former vice-minister of foreign affairs, at the first Academic Forum for the High-Quality BRI Development held in Beijing on Jan 22.
The former official pointed out four “new normals” in the world today:
- The rise of non-traditional security threats, such as climate change, epidemics, and cyber security;
- Global economic headwinds exacerbating financial turmoil, inflation and economic friction in various countries;
- The geopolitical conflict between China and the United States;
- The impact of forces opposed to globalization, causing the continuous fermentation of the global wealth gap and inequality, making it difficult to achieve the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.
The famous Chinese diplomat then put forward four suggestions for high-quality BRI development:
- Firmly believe in the common values of human beings of “peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy and freedom”;
- Deal with difficulties with an open, inclusive and enterprising spirit;
- Respond to the needs of enterprises doing business in BRI regions;
- Strengthen the role of think tanks and China’s own NGOs, to strive for China’s voice in international public opinion.
“In short, globalization has entered a new stage,” He concluded. “There is still a long way to go.”
