The 3rd Understanding China Conference, co-hosted by China Institute for Innovation & Development Strategy, Chinese People’s Institute of Foreign Affairs, the People’s Government of Beijing Municipality and the 21st Century Council, was held on Dec 16 to 18 in Beijing. President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory letter to the conference. Premier Li Keqiang held talks with foreign representatives. Yang Jiechi, Director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, attended the opening ceremony and delivered a keynote speech. Wu Hailong, President of Chinese People’s Institute of Foreign Affairs (CPIFA) attended the conference and delivered speeches at the opening and closing ceremonies. Wei Wei, Liang Jianquan, Vice Presidents of CPIFA, Zhang Dan, Vice President of United Nations Association of China and Zhang Min, Secretary General of CPIFA also attended the conference.

The theme of this conference is “China’s New Growth Drivers and New Opportunities for Global Cooperation”. Nine former foreign state leadersincluding Ernesto Zedillo, former President of Mexico, Punsalmaagiin Ochirbat, former President of Mongolia, Shaukat Aziz, former Prime Minister of Pakistan,and Gordon Brown, former Prime Minister of the U.K. and about 500 well-known politicians, entrepreneurs, and scholars from China and abroad attended the conference.