The Second Understanding China Conference kicked off Sunday at the Yanqi Lake International Conference Center in the suburbs of Beijing.
More than 40 former heads of state, global strategists and business leaders are attending the conference and discussing the development of China's 13th Five-Year Plan as well as the country's role in global governance. Specific topics include China's economic and opening-up strategy in a new era, how China guarantees its peaceful development and Sino-U.S. relations in the construction of the future Asia-Pacific order.
This conference aims to boost better understanding between China and the rest of the world. The name of the conference indicates that there is still misperception over the rise of China by the outside world, noted Wu Jianming, executive vice chairman of the China Institute for Innovation and Development Strategy and former Chinese ambassador to France, at a media briefing prior to the conference.
In recent years, China has hosted several international conferences such as the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meetings last year and the upcoming G20 summit, in an effort to better connect China with the world and tell the story of China to the world.
HRH Turki bin Abdullah al Saud, former governor of Riyadh, capital of Saudi Arabia, is a participant in the Second Understanding China Conference. He believes that "transformation" is essential to tell the China story.
"China's transformation is a great example for the world. We're a world of humans and we need to evolve, and that's what China did," he told the Global Times.
The conference will run from Sunday to Tuesday. It is co-hosted by the China Institute for Innovation and Development Strategy, the Chinese People's Institute of Foreign Affairs, the Beijing Municipal People's Government and the 21st Century Council (Berggruen Institute).
The First Understanding China Conference was held in November 2013.
