The Importance of Our Dialogue

HISTORICALLY， learning from the Eastspread to the West and Western learningspread to the East， creating a storyof exchanges and mutual learningamong human civilizations. These exchangesare primarily characterized by complementarity，non-equivalence and practicality.

China’s agrarian civilization gave inspirationfor Europe's Enlightenment movement whichinfluenced modern European culture. The industrialand commercial civilization of modern"Europe reached China and swept it into themodernization process. Then in the 1960s， theestablishment of diplomatic relations betweenChina and France led to the normalization ofrelations between China and the Western worldand opened the door for China to learn from advancedEuropean technologies and promote itsmodernization drive.

The Eastern and Western civilizations representedby China and Europe respectively appreciatedeach other and learned from each other'sstrengths in an effort to mend their own weaknesses.Whether conducted actively or passively，the exchanges between them were diverse， nonequivalent，and asymmetrical. Moreover， theseexchanges were based on the practical needs ofboth sides. As French political scientist and historianAlexis de Tocqueville said when criticizingVoltaire's fascination with China， the shapingof their respective images stemmed fromnecessity， and was aimed at addressing deficienciesand forming a certain image of each other.

In the new era， China and Europe have entereda phase of competitive exchange andmutual learning as they embrace the new ageCOMMENTARYA businesswoman displaysproducts with French elementsin Yiwu， China’s hubof small commodities， inZhejiang Province， on June3， 2024."of digital and ecological civilization. As long asChina and Europe open up to each other andengage in mutually beneficial cooperation， therewill be no scope for block confrontation. As longas China and Europe remain open and seek winwin，deglobalization will not prevail. China-Europerelations hold great strategic significancein a world of changes and conflicts.

China-Europe Civilizational Exchanges

Europeans often say that the only certaintyin today's world is uncertainty. Where does thisuncertainty come from？ Since the beginning ofmodern times， we have talked about artifactbasedcivilization， institutional civilization， andspiritual civilization. Today both China and theWest face new challenges in these three areas.For example， in the electric vehicle sector， someWestern countries are disputing China’s subsidypolicies and state support. In the field of datasecurity， there are issues related to personal privacyprotection， taken even to the cultural andcivilizational level. This cyclical factor is causingthe uncertainty in China-West relations.

At the same time， the global uncertainty alsoneeds to be addressed by China and the Westtogether， such as technological challenges relatedto artificial intelligence and blockchaindecentralization. This requires thinking fromtwo dimensions： how to avoid what the Westcalls intercivilizational competition in terms ofartifacts， institutions， and culture/ethics， andhow to address its threats to production activities，human life， and the way of thinking.

When Chinese President Xi Jinping met EuropeanCouncil President Charles Michel andEuropean Commission President Ursula von derLeyen in Beijing last December， he said， “TheChina-EU relationship has strategic significanceand implications for global peace， stability， andprosperity…We should not view each other asrivals just because our systems are different， reducecooperation because competition exists， orengage in confrontation because there are disagreements.\"China sees the EU as a key partnerfor economic and trade cooperation， a preferredpartner for scientific and technological cooperation，and a trustworthy partner for industrialand supply chain cooperation， he added.

China and Europe should support each otherand find common ground in their respectiveefforts to advance Chinese modernization andEuropean integration. This includes aligningthe Belt and Road Initiative with the EU's GlobalGateway strategy. As two major forces， markets，and civilizations， China and Europe have a significantrole in creating a new form of humanadvancement， as well as in advancing digitalcivilization and ecological civilization.

For China， the EU is its most valued partneramong all major countries and economic entities.This is because China's vision of modernization，including aspects like low-carbon livingand a green economy， is not only inspired byEurope but also dovetails with the European aspirationfor the future world. This has remainedunchanged since China launched reform andopening-up more than four decades ago.

China and Europe need to explore new areasof cooperation while avoiding competition incertain traditional domains. In this regard， Ipropose we look at tomorrow from the day aftertomorrow. By \"day after tomorrow，\" I mean thedistant future when human society transcendsgeopolitical rivalry and great power confrontation.\"Tomorrow\" refers to the nearer future rifewith challenges to our modes of production， life，and thinking. For example， the development ofAI technology raises the questions： Do humansdefine machines， or do machines define humans？How can humanity coexist harmoniouslywith Mother Earth？

The China-Europe cooperation in buildinga global community of shared future gives newmeaning to the dialogue between Chinese andEuropean civilizations in an era defined by digitaltechnology and ecological conservation.

China-France Civilizational Exchanges

Some people think that in the West， it isFrance who understands China best， while inthe East it is China who understands Francebest. Sixty years ago， speaking of the establishmentof China-France diplomatic relations at"a press conference， French President Charlesde Gaulle said China’s history was as old as theworld and to recognize China was to recognizethe world as it is.

The Sino-French civilizational dialogue hascontinued throughout history， from ancienttimes to the present. Voltaire once wrote， “If anyannals carry with them the stamp of certainty，they are those of China， which have united， ashas been already said， the history of heaven withthat of earth.” In Essai sur les moeurs et l'espritdes nations （translated to English as An Essayon Universal History， the Manners， and Spirit ofNations ）， he noted that the Chinese integratedtheir history and culture into their daily liveswithout knowing it.

President Xi once said， “Let the cultural relicscollected in the museum， the heritage displayedon the vast land， and the words written in theancient books all come to life.” Today， much ofthe cultural exchange between China and Franceinvolves the protection of cultural heritage， theOlympic Games， traditional Chinese medicine，and human habitation. Culture is in essenceabout the pursuit of a better life.

The dialogue between Chinese and Frenchcivilizations is more about mutual appreciationand bilateral accomplishments. We must worktogether to build a better world. As two greatcivilizations， two great nations， and two greatpeoples， China and France should take on thisspecial mission of creating a better future forhumanity， which is the new significance of thedialogue between their civilizations in this era.

Sino-French cooperation in cultural heritagepreservation is one example of cultural exchangesbetween China and Europe that is closeto people’s lives and meets the needs of currenttimes. There is ample room for collaborationin this area. Ordinary people， especially youngpeople， should be encouraged to participate inheritage protection. The cooperation betweenChina and France can go global， extending to athird country or region. For instance， they canwork together on heritage protection and restorationin Africa. There is a lot of potential inthis area. Such programs and technologies likethe Masters in the Forbidden City ， a Chinesedocumentary about cultural relics conservatorsworking in the Palace Museum， and the Digital"Dunhuang， a website created by the DunhuangResearch Academy to offer a virtual tour ofMogao Caves， can also be introduced and exploredin French speaking countries.

The significance of the Sino-French dialogueor cultural exchange can be summarized inthree sentences： Discover each other， discoveryourself， and discover the world. Confucianism，Buddhism， and Taoism have long coexisted inChina. Buddhism emphasizes the relationshipbetween oneself and the mind， Confucianismfocuses on the relationship between people，and Taoism the relationship between humansand nature and the world. In other words， thesethree schools of thought all evolve around \"I，you， and we.\" But I think another aspect of today'scultural exchanges is that we feel “I wantto discover myself through you， and I want tobecome me and us through you.”

This cultural integration is visible in many elementsof living history. I regularly wear the Maosuit. This garment is often attributed to SunYat-sen， but in fact originated from the Prussianarmy uniform， and was imported to Chinafrom Japan. It is truly a product of the fusion ofWestern and Eastern cultures. The story behindit well embodies cultural exchanges. When thePalace Museum and the Palace of Versailles introducethemselves to each other’s audiences， Ihope they can showcase the elements signifyingthat humanity is a community of shared futureand our world is a unified whole.

There is a China in French or Western imagination，and also a West in Chinese imaginationas well. On the Chinese part， we used variousbeautiful words to translate something relatedto the West in our imagination， such as thenames of France， England， America， and theBible. The Western imagination of China is alsoreflected in （negative） depictions in The Adventuresof Tintin ， and criticism by some Westernthinkers like Montesquieu and Tocqueville， whocriticized his countrymen， including Voltaire，saying they had never been to China and reliedonly on second-hand information from missionaries.Their view of China was no more than anillusion， he concluded.

Today， the dialogue between China andFrance should move away from this self-centeredimagination to objective， rational， anddirect communication， discovering ourselves，each other， and the world.

France has deeply influenced modern andcontemporary China. This can be seen in theChinese term \"people’s republic.\" China can alsodraw inspiration and learn from France in promotingmore recent ideas.

When I studied in Paris more than 20 yearsago， a professor at research university SciencesPo told me， if you know only one foreign language，you don’t know any foreign language atall because you constantly compare it to yourmother tongue， which creates a biased reference.Therefore， I think that cultural exchangesbetween China and France should go beyondbilateral and return to true multilateralism. Toquote what President Xi said， “I am willing tobe selfless and devote myself to working for thegood of the people.” I feel that only when you arenot occupied with “self ” can people understand“you，” “them，” and all “others.”