Editor's note: Wang Chen, vice-chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, delivered a speech at the opening ceremony of the Taihu World Cultural Forum on the role of culture in building a community with a shared future for mankind. Excerpts follow:

Today, we have friends from around the world gathering in Beijing to attend the fifth annual conference of the Taihu World Cultural Forum. President Xi Jinping has sent a congratulatory letter to the conference, which fully displays the high importance that the Chinese government attaches to strengthening exchanges and the mutual learning of cultures, as well as its desire to work with others to build a community with a shared future for mankind.

The Taihu World Cultural Forum is a nonofficial but high-level international cultural forum. It aims to strengthen cultural exchanges between China and the rest of the world, and promote dialogue and cooperation between various civilizations and cultures for the purpose of jointly building a harmonious world. As an open, inclusive and pluralistic high-end platform for cultural exchanges, the forum has won wide recognition and support from people both at home and abroad, particularly those in academia, the cultural industry and the media.

This year's conference has the theme "Dialogues of Cultures: Building A Community with a Shared Future for Mankind" and it provides a platform for participants to engage in-depth discussions on ways to build a community with a shared future and realize an open, inclusive, clean and beautiful world of lasting peace, universal security and common prosperity. By enhancing exchanges among different cultures and civilizations, we can move from theory to practice. We are confident that your insights, as well as your participation and communications will provide a driving force to promote common prosperity and make positive contributions to advancing international exchanges and cooperation among the cultures of the world.

Today the world is undergoing profound changes unseen in a century. Isolationism, populism and trade protectionism are on the rise. The general trend of peace and development is encountering increasingly grave challenges. However, we are convinced peace and development are still the theme of the times and the trend of peaceful development is irreversible. In the face of the common challenges facing humanity, President Xi Jinping has proposed the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, and this vision has won wide recognition and support from the international community and has been written into United Nations resolutions.

Culture is the spiritual homeland and intellectual wealth of mankind and reflects the good aspirations shared by the whole mankind. To build a community with a shared future for mankind, we should use the power of culture to support this vision and make its merits widely known. In the meanwhile, we should consolidate the foundation for shared development by strengthening people-to-people bonds. Moreover, we should enhance the exchanges between different civilizations and let exchanges supersede isolation, let mutual learning supersede conflict and let coexistence supersede superiority.

In a keynote speech at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris in March 2014, President Xi Jinping said: "Civilizations have become richer and more colorful with exchanges and mutual learning. Such exchanges and mutual learning form an important driver for human progress and global peace and development." Over the long span of human history, exchanges and mutual learning among different civilizations have advanced progress by constantly injecting new theories and vitality into social, economic and political development.

We should keep in mind that differences are natural, but equality, respect and inclusiveness are the preconditions that allow for mutual understanding and learning. This practice has proved that attempts by any country to wrongly try and impose its own culture and values upon another will be rejected. The culture and values of each and every country or nationality－whether weak or strong, big or small－should be recognized and respected. We should fully understand and appreciate the rich implications of various civilizations, acknowledge and respect the diversity of world civilizations and accept the unique value of various civilizations so that each and every civilization will coexist harmoniously.

The long history of Chinese civilization dates back over 5,000 years. Chinese culture has cultivated the Chinese nation as it has been passed from one generation to another, gaining the wisdom of all Chinese people. Traditional Chinese culture constitutes the foundation for realizing the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and is also the source of the vision of a community with a shared future for mankind as the Chinese nation firmly pursues peace, friendship and harmony and carries these forward.

Such values have been evident in the development of the Chinese civilization, becoming part of everyday life for the Chinese people, and ultimately guiding China's philosophy in governing the state and dealing with international affairs. It is the common aspiration of the Chinese people to reach consensus by shelving differences and realize the ideal of the whole world as one community.

Today, the Chinese people are working hard to achieve the Chinese dream of national rejuvenation. The Chinese dream is closely linked to that of the people of the rest of the world. Working together with people throughout the world to build a community with a shared future for mankind is what China is doing to fulfill its commitment to be a promoter of world peace, a contributor to global development and a defender of the international order. It is providing Chinese wisdom and Chinese solutions to safeguard world peace and promote shared growth, and I hereby would like to put forward a four-point proposal:
First, mutual respect and inclusiveness should be upheld. The vigor and vitality of the world culture comes from the differences and diversity. Only mutual respect can bring about peaceful coexistence and only inclusiveness can promote common progress. We should respect and preserve cultural diversity with inclusiveness while promoting the development of the whole of humanity, seeking consensus while putting aside differences, enhancing progress while recognizing diversity and constantly advancing human prosperity and development.

Second, the transformation and development of traditional cultures should be enhanced by innovation. Culture, a reflection of the past and a link to the future, should be innovated while being passed on in order to open up new prospects for its development. The traditional cultures of various countries all need innovative development to ensure they keep abreast of the times. The spiritual and cultural essences of traditional cultures that are valuable to today's world should be refined and showcased and the important role of traditional culture in cultural exchanges should be brought fully into play.

Third, more people should be involved in cultural exchanges. Friendship, which derives from close contacts between people, holds the key to sound state-to-state relations. We should develop cultural exchanges in various forms such as exhibitions, literature, films and TV programs and music, to name a few, to intensify international exchanges and cooperation, and increasing the participation of ordinary people so culture can be a bridge between different civilizations and keep injecting vitality into cultural development.

Fourth, cultural interactions between countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative should be promoted. The ancient Silk Road played an important role in promoting exchanges between the East and the West and witnessed the brilliant achievements of different human civilizations. The Belt and Road Initiative conforms to the principle of broad consultations and joint contributions with the outcomes shared by all. It will help build a road of mutual respect and mutual trust, mutual learning, win-win cooperation and common prosperity, and a road of progress that enhances mutual understanding and friendship among various countries and promotes exchanges and interactions among different civilizations as well. We should embrace the cultural spirit of the ancient Silk Road, advance the Belt and Road construction and make contributions to promoting common prosperity and global development.

People from around the world should join hands to strengthen cultural exchanges to build a community with a shared future for mankind so as to contribute their wisdom and power and jointly build a better world for all.