CGTN: Beauty in diversity: How wisdom at Nishan Forum inspires global modernization
"Is it not a joy to have friends come from afar?" This opening question and well-known saying from the Analects of Confucius has been transformed into a vivid reality as experts and scholars from across the world gathered at the 11th Nishan Forum on World Civilizations in east China's Qufu City.
The forum is named after Nishan Mountain, formerly known as the Ni Qiu Hill, about 30 kilometers southeast of Qufu – the birthplace of the great Chinese thinker and educator Confucius (551-479 BC). Since its first edition in 2010, the forum has become a platform for understanding China and fostering international cultural and civilizational exchanges.
Taking place from Wednesday to Thursday, the 11th Nishan Forum attracted more than 500 global leaders, scholars and cultural figures to explore the role of ancient wisdom in shaping the modern world with the theme of "Beauty in Diversity: Nurturing Understanding Among Civilizations for Global Modernization."
Understanding among civilizations highlighted
Scholars at the forum underscored the essential role that cultural exchange and mutual learning among civilizations play in advancing human progress.
Noting armed conflicts have resurfaced in today's turbulent world, Madagascar's Ambassador to China Jean Louis Robinson spoke highly of the forum, saying that its role in promoting harmonious coexistence and shared prosperity among diverse cultures and civilizations has become all the more significant.
China-proposed Global Civilization Initiative (GCI) won praise from foreign participants. In March 2023, China introduced the GCI, which calls for respect for global civilizational diversity, the promotion of shared human values, the inheritance and innovation of civilizations, and the strengthening of international cultural exchanges.
Hussain Mohamed Latheef, vice president of the Republic of Maldives, described the GCI as a timely reminder of the need to respect and understand diverse cultures worldwide. "The initiative promotes shared human values, aims to balance tradition with innovation, and supports cultural exchange and development," Latheef added.
Some of the experts spoke highly of the influence of Confucianism, which is known for its five key concepts, namely benevolence, or "ren" in Chinese, righteousness, or "yi," propriety, "li," wisdom, "zhi," and trustworthiness, "xin."
Dr Salome Nyambura, director of the Confucius Institute at Kenyatta University, told CGTN that close people-to-people exchanges between China and Kenya have made more Kenyans interested in Confucianism.
Echoing Nyambura, Riccardo Pozzo, professor of History of Philosophy at Tor Vergata University of Rome, said that Confucianism can provide valuable solutions to bridge traditional and modern issues and solve modern problems, citing the saying from the Analects that "If a man keeps cherishing his old knowledge and continually acquires new knowledge, he may become a teacher to others."
Global modernization deeply rooted in fertile soil of civilizations
As well as fueling academic dialogue and people-to-people connections, exchanges among civilizations are also expected to generate valuable insights to tackle global challenges and open up diverse pathways for modernization.
China is committed to offering new opportunities to the world through the achievements of its unique path to modernization, and providing new momentum to global partners through its vast domestic market, Sun Chunlan, president of the International Confucian Association, said when addressing the opening of the forum.
China's poverty alleviation efforts and global cooperation on poverty reduction have provided relevant examples, demonstrating that the development of civilization should be "people-oriented" and that the fruits of development can benefit more groups.
Wang Xuedian, vice president of the International Confucian Association, said that civilizations must engage in dialogue and mutual learning to explore development paths that align with their own cultural contexts.
By drawing on advanced productive forces and promoting traditional values, different civilizations can bridge developmental gaps and realize the common prosperity and harmonious coexistence of multiple civilizations, Wang added.
As for Latheef, humanity must work together to safeguard cultural traditions and values while embracing new ideas and changes to adapt to global modernization.
Roger T. Ames, professor emeritus of philosophy at the University of Hawaii and Humanities Chair Professor at Peking University, said that the urgent task is to transform individualism into a conscious awareness of a united global community, adding that the Confucian values of fairness, inclusiveness and harmony offer valuable guidance for addressing the pressing challenges of the modern world.
https://news.cgtn.com/news/2025-07-10/Beauty-in-diversity-How-Nishan-Forum-inspires-global-modernization-1ET6WOKnklO/p.html
Hashtag: #CGTN
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
CGTN
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The National
a day ago
- The National
Iran seeks sanctions-busting alliance at meeting with China and Russia
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has proposed setting up an international organisation to study ways to counteract sanctions after meeting Russian and Chinese ministers at a Shanghai Co-operation Organisation summit on Tuesday. Iran's economy is struggling under the weight of western sanctions imposed over Tehran's nuclear programme, which has been a source of friction for decades. Iran relies heavily on economic links with Beijing and Moscow, and is part of the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation, a 10-nation Eurasian security and political grouping whose members also include China, Russia, India and Pakistan i. Tianjin, in northern China, is hosting the organisation's 25th foreign ministers meeting. Mr Araghchi said in a post on Telegram that the SCO should establish a 'Centre for Studies and Counteraction to Unilateral Sanctions' to develop strategies to counter 'illegal economic sanctions' and protect supply chains, banking systems and the trade exchanges of its member states. He also sought support for Iran following its 12-day aerial war with Israel last month. Israel and the US launched air strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities which they said were part of a nuclear programme geared towards weaponisation. Tehran denies having any such plans. Mr Araghchi said the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation should also 'establish a permanent mechanism to monitor, document and co-ordinate responses to military aggression, acts of sabotage, state terrorism and violations of national sovereignty'. 'The SCO is gradually opening up its place in the global arena, meaning it is gradually going beyond the regional arena, and it has many different issues on its agenda, including in the economic, political and security fields,' he added. He said he would be holding bilateral meetings with Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the event. Iranian state news agency Irna said Mr Araghchi also met Chinese President Xi Jinping and would hold talks with Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Mr Lavrov confirmed the meeting with Mr Araghchi had taken place and said they had discussed how to reach a peaceful solution to the Israeli conflict. Since the reimposition of American sanctions on Iran during Donald Trump's first term as US president, Tehran has deepened ties with Moscow through a 20-year strategic pact, as well as with Beijing, which buys as much as 90 per cent of Iranian oil exports.
Khaleej Times
a day ago
- Khaleej Times
Chinese firms rush to buy Nvidia AI chips as sales set to resume
Chinese firms are scrambling to buy Nvidia's H20 artificial intelligence chips, two sources told Reuters, as the company said it planned to resume sales to the mainland days after its CEO met U.S. President Donald Trump. Nvidia's AI chips have been a key focus of U.S. export controls designed to keep the most advanced chips out of Chinese hands over national security concerns. The U.S.-listed company has said the curbs would cut its revenue by $15 billion. The world's most valuable firm is filing applications with the U.S. government to resume sales to China of the H20 graphics processing unit (GPU), and expects to get the licences soon, Nvidia said in a statement. "The U.S. government has assured Nvidia that licences will be granted, and Nvidia hopes to start deliveries soon," said the company, whose chief executive, Jensen Huang, is visiting Beijing and set to speak at an event on Wednesday. The White House, which has previously expressed concern that the Chinese military could use AI chips to develop weapons, did not respond to a request for comment. Chinese companies have scrambled to place orders for the chips, which Nvidia would then need to send to the U.S. government for approval, the sources familiar with the matter said. They added that internet giants ByteDance and Tencent are in the process of submitting applications. Central to the process is a "whitelist" put together by Nvidia for Chinese companies to register for potential purchases, one of the sources said. ByteDance and Tencent did not respond to a request for comment. Nvidia did not respond to a request for comment regarding the "whitelist". Nvidia, which has criticised the export curbs the Trump administration imposed in April that stopped it from selling its H20 chip in China, also said it has introduced a new model tailored to meet regulatory rules in the Chinese market. Huang is set fpr a media briefing in Beijing on Wednesday when he attends a supply chain expo. The Nvidia CEO also visited China in April and stressed the importance of the Chinese market. "The Chinese market is massive, dynamic, and highly innovative, and it's also home to many AI researchers," Huang told Chinese state broadcaster CCTV on Tuesday. "Therefore, it is indeed crucial for American companies to establish roots in the Chinese market." Nvidia's Frankfurt-listed shares jumped 3.2%. Asked at a regular foreign ministry briefing in Beijing about Nvidia's plans to resume AI chip sales, a spokesperson said, "China is opposed to the politicisation, instrumentalisation and weaponisation of science, technology and economic and trade issues to maliciously blockade and suppress China." Nvidia has faced increased competition from Chinese tech giant Huawei and other makers of GPUs - the chips used to train artificial intelligence. But Chinese companies, including big tech firms, still crave Nvidia chips for its computing platform known as CUDA. Huang's visit is being closely watched in both China and the United States, where a bipartisan pair of senators last week sent the CEO a letter asking him to abstain from meeting companies working with military or intelligence bodies. The senators also asked Huang to refrain from meeting with entities named on the United States' restricted export list. The move to resume sales of the H20 chips comes amid easing tensions between Washington and Beijing, with China relaxing controls on rare earth exports and the United States allowing chip design software services to restart in China. "The uncertainties between the U.S. and China remain high and despite a pause in H20's ban, Chinese companies will continue to diversify their options to better protect their supply chain integrity," said He Hui, research director of semiconductors at Omdia. The H20 chip was developed specifically for the Chinese market after U.S. export curbs imposed on national security grounds in late 2023. The AI chip was Nvidia's most powerful legally available product in China until it was effectively banned by Washington in April. The H20 ban forced Nvidia to write off $5.5 billion in inventories, and Huang told the Stratechery podcast this year that the company also had to walk away from $15 billion in sales. Nvidia also announced the development of a new AI chip designed specifically for China, called the RTX Pro GPU. The company described it as "fully compliant" with U.S. export controls and suitable for digital twin AI applications in sectors, such as smart factories and logistics. In May, Reuters reported Nvidia was preparing to launch in China a new AI chip, based on the RTX Pro 6000D, at a significantly lower price point than the H20. The graphics processing unit would be part of Nvidia's latest generation Blackwell-architecture AI processors and was expected to be priced well below the H20 for its weaker specifications and simpler manufacturing requirements, sources said. China generated $17 billion in revenue for Nvidia in the fiscal year ending January 26, or 13% of total sales, based on its latest annual report. Huang has consistently highlighted China as a critical market for Nvidia's growth.
Zawya
a day ago
- Zawya
Iraq to launch oil exploration in Najaf soon
Iraq is on the verge of launching a massive oil and gas exploration operation in the South-central Najaf governorate, its governor has said. Yousuf Kanawi said the operation would begin this month and would cover wide areas stretching up to the border with Saudi Arabia. He told the official Iraqi News Agency that the project involves conducting seismic surveys in line with an oil exploration map devised by the governorate recently. He did not identify the companies which will conduct the surveys but said the project is part of the licensing rounds 5 and 6 which involved the awarding of oil contracts to several companies from China and other countries. (Writing by Nadim Kawach; Editing by Anoop Menon) (
