The eighth World Peace Forum (WPF) opened at Tsinghua University on July 8th, with the theme of “Stabilizing the World Order: Common Responsibilities, Joint Management, and Shared Benefits”. Wang Qishan, Vice President of China, addressed the opening ceremony.

The forum was attended by former President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai, former President of Indonesia Megawati Soekarnoputri, former Prime Minister of Singapore Goh Chok Tong, former President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy, former Secretary of Security Council of the Russian Federation Igor Ivanov, and other former politicians and opinion leaders from around the world. Diplomatic envoys from more than 50 countries attended the opening ceremony. More than 100 think tank scholars from 24 countries spoke at the forum, and 200 researchers and practitioners in the field of international relations were present at the event. The Vice Chairperson of the Foreign Affairs Committee of China’s 13th National People’s Congress Fu Ying, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China Le Yucheng and Zheng Zeguang, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Education of China Zheng Fuzhi, the President of the Chinese People’s Institute of Foreign Affairs Wang Chao, the President of Tsinghua University Qiu Yong, the Chairperson of Tsinghua University Council Chen Xu, the Vice President of the Chinese People’s Institute of Foreign Affairs Li Huilai and the Vice President of Tsinghua University Zheng Li also attended the forum. Yan Xuetong, the Secretary General of the World Peace Forum, moderated the opening ceremony.

In his address, Wang Qishan stated that with the founding of New China, the Chinese people, through their extraordinary efforts, have achieved the historic progress from struggling for subsistence to a moderately prosperous society in all respects, heralding bright prospects for the great renewal of the Chinese nation. China cannot develop by shutting itself from the world, nor can the world develop by shutting out China. Committed to the path of peaceful development, China will never seek hegemony, expansion or sphere of influence no matter how the international situation changes or how developed it may become. With the common interests of all humanity in mind, China has come up with the proposition to build a new type of international relations and a community with a shared future for mankind. “We must stay committed to peaceful development, unswervingly advance economic globalization and jointly build an international order that is more fair, equitable, stable and effective,” said Vice President Wang.

In his welcome speech at the opening ceremony, Qiu Yong, President of Tsinghua University, and Chairman of World Peace Forum, extended his warmest welcome and thanks to all the participants on behalf of Tsinghua University and announced the opening of the eighth World Peace Forum.

President Qiu stated that since its inception, the forum has adhered to the core principles of inclusiveness, innovation and openness, and its influence has been expanding. It has become an annual event for the active participation of global strategic security personnel with the aim of promoting international security dialogue, stimulating innovation in strategic thinking and maintaining world peace and stability.

President Qiu also pointed out that although in the world today, stability and turmoil, opportunities and challenges co-exist, peace and development remain the theme of the times. Joint efforts must be made to create a win-win situation, and strive to promote peace and prosperity for all countries in the world. He hoped that all delegates would speak freely in the following two days and make new and greater contributions to maintaining international order and stability, and deepening global security cooperation.

Former President of Indonesia Megawati Soekarnoputri and former President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy spoke at the first plenary with the theme “International Configuration and World Order”.

During the two-day forum, topics including geopolitics and relations among the major powers, regional security cooperation, multilateralism vs. unilateralism, international order transformation and regional conflicts, free trade zone construction and trade norms, new trends in the international counter-terrorism situation, artificial intelligence: technology and governance, BRICS and world order, and other relevant topics will be discussed.

The forum will have two plenaries, two plenary panels, one lunch meeting, and 22 panels, covering global, regional and other relevant issues.

The World Peace Forum, organized by Tsinghua University and co-organized by the Chinese People’s Institute of Foreign Affairs, is a high-level non-governmental global forum on international security held under the approval of the State Council. The forum is committed to engaging international leaders and strategists to exchange views and proposals for developing new ideas, concepts and approaches for improvement of global stability and world peace.

Writer: Guo Lili

Editors: Guo Lili, John Olbrich