More than 270 delegates from 55 countries and regions joined 72 speakers from various fields to explore key issues related to China and the world — including cross-cultural connections between East and West — at the Yenching Global Symposium 2023, which opened in Hainan province on April 14. The five-day event was themed "Humanity: Cartographies of Collaboration".
In an opening address, Hong Kai Tan, chair of the symposium, emphasized the importance of interaction, mutual understanding and collaboration in today's world.
"Different cultures have different practices, understandings and interpretations of various concepts. Different communities have different needs, circumstances and values. Respecting these differences, studying them on their own terms, and suspending ethnocentric judgments based upon our own value systems are indispensable to facilitating understanding," he said.
The event also invited experts to speak on cross-cultural connections between Eastern and Western civilizations, as well as on the wisdom that history and philosophy provide for contemporary life.
Fan Shiming, an associate dean of the Yenching Academy, offered his understanding of the symposium's theme during the closing ceremony: "Humanity is the attitude and ability to care for others, to be kind and equal to each other, sympathetic and accommodating enough, tolerant to differences, ready for communication and cooperation," he said.
Initiated and organized by students of the Yenching Academy at Peking University, YGS 2023 works to piece together the picture of China and the world and helps delegates gain enriching experience, meet new people and discover new ideas.
While panel discussions gave delegates the latest insights and ideas that are powering current research, site visits provided the delegates a window into how those emerging ideas and technologies are applied.
By visiting the Yangpu Economic Development Zone and Jiahe Shared Farm in Danzhou, delegates got a sense of Hainan's vibrant economic and cultural landscapes.
Tan, the chairman, said the visit to the Yangpu International Container Terminal in the Yangpu Economic Development Zone was a memorable moment for him.
"Delegates had a rare and exclusive opportunity to understand the working mechanisms and latest technologies of the port, which is integral to Hainan province's economic development. It was also a once-in-a-lifetime chance to observe the port up close," he added.
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