On December 20, 2021, the China Institute of International Studies and the China Foundation for International Studies co-hosted the Symposium on the International Situation and China's Foreign Relations in 2021, with the theme of “The World and China’s Diplomacy in the Post-pandemic Era”. State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi attended the opening ceremony and delivered a keynote speech.

Wang Chao, President of the Chinese People’s Institute of Foreign Affairs (CPIFA) attended the symposium and delivered a speech entitled “People-to-people Diplomacy Assists Major Country Diplomacy with Chinese Characteristics in the New Era” at the plenary session.

In his speech, President Wang Chao reviewed the history of China’s people-to-people diplomacy and elaborated its distinctive advantages and orientations in the next period. He said, with the unique advantages of being flexible, people-oriented, amiable, and responsible, China’s people-to-people diplomacy, which advances with the times, is a beneficial supplement to the official diplomacy and plays an irreplaceable and strategic role in the process of the great renewal of the Chinese nation. Standing at the new starting point of achieving the second centenary goal, China’s people-to-people diplomacy is facing both unprecedented new opportunities and risks and challenges of unstable and uncertain international factors. The CPIFA will firmly concentrate on the central tasks of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the country and China’s overall diplomacy, constantly push forward the theoretical and practical innovation of people-to-people diplomacy, and strive to make new progress in the new era in the aspects of better telling the stories of China, safeguarding national interests, advancing Chinese-foreign cooperation and promoting friendship among peoples.

Wang Chao said, although the COVID-19 pandemic caused physical barriers, it cannot separate people’s friendship. Under the leadership of the CPC, China’s people-to-people diplomacy will surely sparkle with new vitality along with the development of the era. The CPIFA will follow the guidance of the Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era and the Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy, shoulder responsibilities, maintain a global vision, properly understand and handle China’s relations with the rest of the world in the context of the general trend of human development, the grand scheme of things amid global changes and the entire course of Chinese history, stand on the right side of history and human progress, and make new efforts to promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.