USST Holds The 2ND Hujiang Public Diplomacy Forum & the Sub-Forum of 2022 World Cities Day Global Observance

On the afternoon of November 3rd, The 2ND Hujiang Public Diplomacy Forum & the Sub-Forum of 2022 World Cities Day Global Observance was held in USST in a combination of both online and offline methods. The forum embraces the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China of “to build a socialist modern country and promote the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation in an all-round way”. Guests from the political and academic circles and representatives of USSTers shared their opinions on the theme of “Public Diplomacy for a Connected World”.
Zhou Hanmin, Vice Chairman of the CPPCC Shanghai Committee, President of the Shanghai Public Diplomacy Association (SPDA), and Director of the Shanghai Institute of Public Diplomacy (SIPD), delivered a keynote speech. He pointed out that the forum was held at the right time of the successful conclusion of the 20th National Congress. The discussion should focus on five key words: “central task”, “strengthening China”, “the second Centenary Goal”, “Chinese-style modernization” and “peaceful development”. He briefly reviewed the history of the successful bid for the Expo Shanghai China in 2008 and shared five insights that the Expo brought to public diplomacy, namely: “people-oriented”, “technological innovation”, “Each beauty its beauty and beauty together”, “win-win cooperation” and “strive for a shared better future”. In the end, Zhou Hanmin put forward three suggestions for better public diplomacy in the future. The first one is to work hard for a long time and to promote the relevant research process in the field of public diplomacy each and every year. The second is to promote the development of Chinese-style modern diplomacy. And the third is to continuously promote the work of SPDA to learn to make friends with the world in a better way.

Zhou Hanmin delivered a keynote speech

Li Wenhui, Director of the Committee for Friendship with Foreign Countries of CPPCC Shanghai Committee, said in his speech that during the current historical period, it is particularly important to exploit public diplomacy to increase trust and dispel doubts and to communicate with other countries. Continuing to use core cities as carriers to promote China’s public diplomacy is a significant step in participating in global development initiatives and telling China’s story well. Our country’s core cities have shown bright ‘national business cards’ in sharing governance experience. Also, they will continue to work hard to enrich the connotation and functions of cities, guide the diplomatic trend of future development issues of global cities, advocate the establishment of ‘experimental zones’ for urban diplomacy, release the potential and vitality of urban diplomacy, and so on.

Li Wenhui delivered a speech

The panel session was presided over by Zhu Weimin, member of the Standing Committee of the CPPCC Shanghai Committee. Focusing on topics such as “From Sovereign Diplomacy to Public Diplomacy, Let the World Understand the Real China”, Huang Jing, Director of the Institute of American and Pacific Areas at Shanghai International Studies University, Chen Zilei, Executive Director of the “High-end Opening and International Rules” Decision Consulting Base of Shanghai University of International Business and Economics, Ding Chun, Director of the Center for European Studies, Fudan University, and Li Kaisheng, Deputy Director of the Institute of International Studies, Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, combined with the current characteristics of China’s relations with other countries in the world, talked about the importance of public diplomacy to promote major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics and analyzed some issues like how to use effective public diplomacy methods to promote the friendly development with target countries.

Zhu Weimin presided over the panel session

This year, on the occasion of the closing of the 20th National  Congress under the leadership of the Communist Party of China and the return of the World Cities Day Global Observance to Shanghai, SIPD adheres to the concept of “Better City, Better Life”, digging deep into the power of urban diplomacy actively on the international stage, and promoting urban diplomacy and overall public diplomacy in an all-round and multi-field way.

Ms. Cai Yonglian presided over the forum